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Start of the 21 st Century
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Ackleson, Steven |
| Copyright Year | 2007 |
| Abstract | Advances in ocean optical modeling and sensor design, coupled with the development of autonomous sampling platforms, have provided the oceanographic community with unprecedented opportunities to measure, monitor and investigate the processes that control the interaction of light with the ocean and its boundaries. Increases in measurement accuracy, opt4mizations in sensor specifications (power, size, weight, cost, and maintenance), the expanded range in temporal and spatial scales over which such measurements can be made, and the speed at which solutions to radiance-based optical models can be obtained, coupled with a national commitment to monitoring the coastal ocean and international interest in measuring the state of the global ocean have ushered in what could arguably be called the golden age of ocean optics research and application. For most of the 20 ~h century the ocean optics community was primarily concerned with developing the tools required to investigate the details of radiative transfer within the ocean, starting in the first decade with simplistic models of light propagation within scattering and absorbing media (Schuster, 1905) and early attempts to measure the subsurface light field (Hojerslev [1989] and references therein) and culminating at the close of the century with the capability to monitor and interpret the color of the global ocean from space (see Mitchell [1994] and companion articles) and measure extreme events within the ocean using autonomous sensors (e.g. Dickey et al., 1998) and highly accurate numerical simulations (Mobley et al., 1993). Today, at the start of the 21 St century, we find ourselves at the beginning of the most interesting part of any scientific endeavor--the application of our assembled tools to learn more about the nature of light in the world's oceans. Cumulatively these accomplishments have resulted in several important trends during the 20 ~ century that have shaped the way that light in the sea is invesToday, at the start of the 21" century, we find ourselves at the beginning of the most interesting part of any scientific endeavor--the application of our assembled tools to learn more about the nature of light in the world's oceans. tigated. As we continue to turn our attention to ever more complicated, interdisciplinary problems requiring observations over wider ranges in temporal and spatial scale, we expect that these trends will continue well into the 21 st century. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://tos.org/oceanography/assets/docs/14-3_ackleson.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
