A System for Improved Prediction of Ocean Optical Properties

Abstract

A system is proposed that will measure oceanic optical properties from a variety of platforms and will allow for improved quantification of their relationships to parameters retrieved from ocean-color remote sensing and in-situ oceanic processes (i.e. the dynamics of particulate and dissolved matter). Improvement will come primarily from increase in optical data currently limited in space and time (e.g. weighed heavily towards the summer in the Atlantic). The system involves a variety of sampling platforms including profiling floats, in-line samplers on ships and bottom mounted tripods. The data collected will be used to improve models describing the evolution of optical properties in time (e.g. describing sediment dynamics in the bottom boundary layer and ecosystem dynamics near the ocean s surface). Improvement in models will come from having a large amount of quality optical data to constrain models with (by tuning the models to agree with the data and exploring disagreement for processes that are poorly represented), or alternatively provide data for model validation. Improvement in models will allow for better prediction of underwater light fields, visibility and transmission of optical communication. In addition, data collected with profiling floats will allow for improved modeling of sub-surface optical properties (measured with the floats) from surface optical properties (measured using from space).

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 30, 2011
Accession Number
ADA557140

Entities

People

  • Emmanuel S. Boss

Organizations

  • University of Maine

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Boundary Layer
  • Dynamics
  • Ecosystems
  • Environment
  • Instrumentation
  • Layers
  • Measurement
  • Measuring Instruments
  • Oceanography
  • Optical Properties
  • Particles
  • Particulates
  • Personal Information Managers
  • Platforms
  • Remote Sensing
  • Sampling
  • Sediments

Readers

  • Coastal Oceanography
  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Oceanography.

Technology Areas

  • Space