Method for estimating admixture content in seawater using operative spectrophotometry

Abstract

The paper discusses spectra of the radiance coefficient of the sea surface measured in the open ocean and in coastal waters, and different kinds of these spectra corresponding to the water types are revealed. The focus is the method of measuring the radiance coefficient from a moving ship with a hyperspectral spectrophotometer. The results of studying a water area of Russia’s Black Sea coast at river mouths are presented. A new calibration method that can process measurement results taking into account the impact of cloudiness and wind has been proposed and tested. The concentrations of the main admixtures in natural seawater in the studied water area are estimated according to the obtained spectra; these estimates are compared to the results of direct analysis of water samples. It has been shown that the method of remote measurement of the sea radiance coefficient from on board a ship makes it possible to obtain operative maps of the spatial distribution of the main seawater admixtures.