The optical scattering property: spatial and angle variability in Northern South China Sea

Cai Li; Wenxi Cao; Yuezhong Yang; Zhantang Xu

doi:10.1117/12.2075865

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19 February 2015 The optical scattering property: spatial and angle variability in Northern South China Sea

Cai Li, Wenxi Cao, Yuezhong Yang, Zhantang Xu

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Proceedings Volume 9449, The International Conference on Photonics and Optical Engineering (icPOE 2014); 94490B (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2075865
Event: The International Conference on Photonics and Optical Engineering and the Annual West China Photonics Conference (icPOE 2014), 2014, Xi'an, China

Abstract

Observations are presented of the Volume scattering function (VSF) over the angular interval 20 to 160°, to maximum depth of about 90m in the Northern South China Sea in Case I and Case II waters. The observations were collected by using a self-developed in situ scattering instrument, which synchronously measured the attenuation coefficient, the VSFs in seven angles between 20 to 160° at 650nm, and the sea depths. General, the VSFs show a strong scattering in the forward, a broad scattering minimum in the scattering angular interval 90 to 126° and a weak increase in the rest of backward scattering angles. The analysis of the in situ data also indicates that the magnitude and the shape of the VSF change with areas and profile depths. From Case II to Case I, the forward scattering in 20°, which is mainly due to relatively large suspended particles, varied about three orders magnitude with highest values observed in Case II waters. In Case I waters, form the surface layer to the deeper layer, the magnitude of the VSFs firstly decreased with the depth, and then increased with the depth until reached a maximum scattering layer between 30 to 50m, and then decreased with depth until reached the maximum measurement depth. In Case II waters, the vertical profile distributions of VSF are complex, but in almost all profile, the magnitude of the VSFs firstly decreased with the depth, and then increased with the depth until reached the maximum measurement depth.

The result of analysis also showed that in almost all of these stations, in the surface water, based on the light scattering by bubbles at shallow depths, the angle scattering at 60º-80º has a significant “shoulder”, and the wind plays a key role in the bubble scattering.

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Cai Li, Wenxi Cao, Yuezhong Yang, and Zhantang Xu "The optical scattering property: spatial and angle variability in Northern South China Sea", Proc. SPIE 9449, The International Conference on Photonics and Optical Engineering (icPOE 2014), 94490B (19 February 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2075865

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