A LABORATORY SETUP FOR MEASURING HYDRO-OPTICAL PROPERTIES USING A FIBER OPTICS SPECTROMETER

Many of the components of natural waters participating in ecologically significant processes are optically active, as a result of which the optical characteristics of water bodies are associated with their ecological state and biological productivity. The study of the processes of absorption and scattering of radiation by natural waters is of great importance, including it being a basis for optical methods for remote sensing of the World Ocean from aerospace platforms. The widespread introduction of sensitive multi-element receivers based on charge-coupled devices has led to the appearance of compact and high-speed spectrometers; however, a single passage of radiation through a cell is often insufficient to isolate the characteristic features of natural water samples. In the laboratory setup developed by the authors of this paper for measuring the characteristics of attenuation and scattering of radiation by water samples, the reflection of a light beam from a vertical mirror is used to double the length of the optical path. Attenuation and scattering spectra in the range 450–900 nm with a resolution of 1 nm were obtained using a fiber-optic spectrometer. Correlations between the scattering and attenuation coefficient have been established. The features that allow distinguishing and grouping the considered natural water bodies are highlighted.

Authors: V. S. Goryainov, M. Khasenova, K. G. Antonenko, A. A. Buznikov

Direction: Physics

Keywords: Natural waters, inherent hydro-optical properties, light attenuation, light scattering, fiber optics spectrometers

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