Proceedings Article | 31 December 1992
KEYWORDS: Ocean optics, Data modeling, Backscatter, Sensors, Reflectivity, Optical properties, Signal attenuation, Sun, Radon, Radiometry
The JHU/APL Optical Profiler System (OPS), consisting of a MER1048 spectral radiometer, a beam transmissometer, a backscatterometer, and temperature and conductivity sensors, has been deployed across the Gulf of Alaska, in the Sargasso Sea, in the Bahamas, and in the Caribbean Sea near St. Croix. The data provide profiles of the diffuse attenuation coefficient, Kd, the irradiance reflectance coefficient, RE, the radiance reflectance coefficient, RL, the beam attenuation coefficient, c, light scattered nearly directly backward, (beta) (170 degree(s)), near 488 nm, temperature and BV frequency. The data exhibit salient changes in the optical profiles among the locations, and the relationship between stratification and optical properties also varies significantly. The optical parameters are clearly related to one another, and these data are used to evaluate the accuracy of various empirical relationships, such as those of Gordon-Morel and Morel, in explaining these correlations. We also examine new relationships based solely on these data.
