Effect of sea-state on the performance of laser fluorosensors

The effect of the sea-state on the performance of laser fluorosensors operating in both spectral and temporal modes is estimated. For the spectral mode, calculations of the dependence of reflective losses on the angle of incidence show that the attenuation of the fluorescence return is not significantly affected for the range of sea-states expected in deep water. In the temporal mode the return signal is distorted by the sea-state. Fortuitously this distortion does not significantly alter the full width at half maximum (FWHM), a parameter from which decay times can be estimated.