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The relationship between upwelling underwater polarization and attenuation/absorption ratio
Amir Ibrahim1, Alexander Gilerson, Tristan Harmel
1Optical Remote Sensing Laboratory, The City College of the City University of New York, New York, New York 10031, USA.
Optics Express
|November 29, 2012
Summary
The underwater degree of linear polarization (DoLP) can retrieve water
Area of Science:
- Ocean optics
- Remote sensing
- Radiative transfer theory
Background:
- Water's attenuation coefficient is difficult to measure directly.
- Unpolarized light measurements are insufficient for retrieval.
- Polarization properties of light offer new retrieval possibilities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between underwater degree of linear polarization (DoLP) and the attenuation-to-absorption ratio (c/a).
- To demonstrate the feasibility of retrieving water's attenuation coefficient from polarized light measurements.
- To explore the potential for retrieving additional inherent optical properties (IOPs).
Main Methods:
- Extensive radiative transfer simulations using the vector radiative transfer code RayXP.
- Analysis of the upwelling polarized light field for various viewing geometries.
- Investigation across multiple wavelengths and aquatic environment compositions.
Main Results:
- A strong correlation was found between the underwater degree of linear polarization (DoLP) and the attenuation-to-absorption ratio (c/a).
- This relationship enables the retrieval of the attenuation coefficient from polarized light measurements.
- The study explored variations in water constituents and particle properties.
Conclusions:
- The degree of linear polarization (DoLP) is a key parameter for retrieving water's attenuation coefficient.
- Air- or space-borne DoLP measurements can provide valuable information on aquatic inherent optical properties (IOPs).
- This opens new avenues for remote sensing of water quality and optical properties.
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