Vector irradiance modelling in a seawater column for assessing the detection capabilities of an oil-in-water emulsion

The possibility of tracking oil pollution in the sea has been an issue that has been analysed for a long time, and the use of light interactions with the sea polluted with various forms of oil has been the subject of numerous studies. This paper presents the results of the Monte Carlo simulations of the fate of a large number of virtual photons to demonstrate changes in the downwelling vector irradiance and upwelling vector irradiance in oil-free seawater and analogously seawater column polluted with an oil-in-water emulsion. The analyses were carried out for eight wavelengths ranging from 412 to 676 nm, upon the assumption of an oil concentration of 10 ppm, taking into account the data of absorption and scattering properties of the southern Baltic Sea. The most favourable combination of wavelengths for the detection of an oil-in-water emulsion was 555/412 for all tested depths.