What are water optical properties and why I care: an emerging technology for lake management?
Authors: Alan Weidemann, Wesley Goode, ZhongPing Lee Naval Research Lab Steven Effler, David O’Donnell, Feng Peng, and MaryGail Perkins Upstate Freshwater Institute Abstract:Water turbidity has long been recognized as an indicator of general water quality in lake management. However measurements of optical properties of the water have advanced significantly since the Secchi disk and nephelometric turbidity. In-situ water column optical properties and laboratory analysis are presented for two stations in Onondaga Lake (Deep South and River Marker 219) collected in June of 2004. Water properties such as dissolved organic material, phytoplankton absorption, total attenuation, and backscattering were measured in-situ, remote sensing reflectance was measured above the water surface, and laboratory analysis was conducted on particle properties and particulate/dissolved absorption. We contrast the optical properties at these two stations to demonstrate how optical properties can be used to de
