Optical tools for ocean monitoring and research

[摘要] Requirements for understanding the relationships between ocean color andsuspended and dissolved materials within the water column, and a rapidlyemerging photonics and materials technology base for performing opticalbased analytical techniques have generated a diverse offering of commercialsensors and research prototypes that perform optical measurements in water.Through inversion, these tools are now being used to determine a diverse setof related biogeochemical and physical parameters. Techniques engagedinclude measurement of the solar radiance distribution, absorption,scattering, stimulated fluorescence, flow cytometry, and variousspectroscopy methods. Selective membranes and other techniques for materialisolation further enhance specificity, leading to sensors for measurement ofdissolved oxygen, methane, carbon dioxide, common nutrients and a variety ofother parameters. Scientists are using these measurements to inferinformation related to an increasing set of parameters and wide range ofapplications over relevant scales in space and time.

[学科分类] 海洋学与技术