Abstract
The quasi-single-scattering approximation in which a δ function replaces the forward portion of the volume scattering function is applied to radiative transfer in the ocean. Immediately beneath the surface, the product of the reflectance R and the downwelling irradiance-attenuation coefficient K(−) is equal to an integral of the volume scattering function in the backward direction weighted by a geometrical factor. Spectral variations of the volume scattering function are revealed in K(−)R; this is used to examine the wavelength dependence of scattering in two very different natural waters. In the clear water of Crater Lake, the backscattering is proportional to λ−3 (λ = wavelength), whereas the turbid, productive waters of San Vicente Reservoir show a complex dependence of backscattering on wavelength, which is associated with anomalous dispersion due to the 670-nm absorption band of the chlorophyll that is contained in the suspended phytoplankton.
© 1974 Optical Society of America
Full Article | PDF ArticleMore Like This
John E. Tyler
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 47(8) 745-747 (1957)
Malik Chami, Eugeny B. Shybanov, Gueorgui A. Khomenko, Michael E.-G. Lee, Oleg V. Martynov, and Gennady K. Korotaev
Appl. Opt. 45(15) 3605-3619 (2006)
J. E. Tyler and R. C. Smith
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 57(5) 595-601 (1967)