<title>Inherent optical property estimation in ocean water using the Zaneveld-Wells algorithm</title>

Abstract

The Zaneveld-Wells technique for determining the inherent optical properties of ocean water is based on calculating the angle-integrated moments of the radiant light field at various depths by an inversion algorithm based on the radiative transfer equation. The hypothesis is that N + 1 sensors can be used to obtain N `inherent optical expansion coefficients,' A<SUB>n</SUB>, from which the single scattering albedo and N-1 expansion coefficients of the volume scattering function can be calculated. We have evaluated the performance and limitations of the proposed algorithm. Results from numerical testing indicate that this technique is a promising way to estimate optical properties of some ocean waters, but attempts to estimate too many expansion coefficients give spurious results for the higher-order coefficients in other cases. Recommendations are given for improving the implementation of the algorithm.