An Instrumentation System For Measuring The Optical Properties Of Water In SITU

L. E. Mertens; W. H. Manning, Jr.

doi:10.1117/12.953473

1 June 1971 An Instrumentation System For Measuring The Optical Properties Of Water In SITU

L. E. Mertens, W. H. Manning, Jr.

Proceedings Volume 0024, Underwater Photo-Optical Instrumentation Applications III; (1971) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.953473
Event: Underwater Photo-Optical Instrumentation Applications, 1971, Honolulu, United States

Abstract

The transmission of optical images in water is controlled by a large number of parameters which determine the photon level, contrast, and resolution of the image. The basic parameters describing the optical properties of water are well known and include the volume attenuation, scattering and absorption coefficients as well as the volume scattering function which describes the angular distribution of the scattered light. Conventional instrumentation for measuring these parameters is not entirely adequate for studying image transmission and communications over long water paths. he principal difficulty is associated with the very strong narrow angle scattering of light produced by water. Scattering at angles as small as a hundredth of a degree or less can be important for image propagation and conventional instrumentation does not respond appropriately in this narrow angle region. In addition, measurement accuracy must be exceptionally high. This is particularly true for propagation over long paths since many of the relations describing light transmission in water are exponential in nature. Small errors in the propagation constants become very significant when operation is attempted over many attenuation lengths. For example, a 0.01m-1 measurement error in the volume attenuation coefficient leads to an error of a factor of nearly 3 in transmission loss over a 100 meter path.

Citation Download Citation

L. E. Mertens and W. H. Manning, Jr. "An Instrumentation System For Measuring The Optical Properties Of Water In SITU", Proc. SPIE 0024, Underwater Photo-Optical Instrumentation Applications III, (1 June 1971); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.953473

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