POSTER Session 1

Optical Modeling and Comparative Analysis of Water Leaving Radiance in Stratified Ocean Environment

Oceanic environments contain diverse constituents such as phytoplankton, suspended sediments, and dissolved organic matter, all of which intricately influence the optical properties of seawater. In this study, inherent optical properties (IOP) measured in situ or estimated by bio-optical models are ingested into our radiative transfer model (RTM) which employs the Monte Carlo numerical method. RTM simulates water leaving radiance (Lw) from an underwater isotropic light source. Source signal intensity is characterized by a Gaussian curve (mean wavelength: 550 nm; standard deviation: 40 nm) within the visible range (400 to 700 nm). Lw was simulated spectrally with 10 nm spacing for multiple sampling locations where IOPs were recorded during nighttime. A comparative analysis was conducted to understand the influence of water column stratification (medium inhomogeneity) on the simulated Lw. The results demonstrate that the magnitude of Lw is lower for the stratified water column compared to the homogeneous water column (depth-averaged IOP) for all the sampling locations. To assess whether the IOP estimated by bio-optical models can act as a substitute for field data, we simulated Lw for both cases. This study provides valuable insights into the optical behavior of stratified ocean environments and has implications for remote sensing and monitoring applications.

*Rajkumar Lakkimsetty, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India, https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4896-387X

Shanmugam Palanisamy, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India

Srinivasan Balaji, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India

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