Integrated Inherent Optical Property Sensor for AUVs

The project goal is to develop and characterize an an AUV-compatible sensor for determining the fundamental Inherent Optical Properties (IOPs) of seawater: beam attenuation (c), total scattering (b), total absorption (a), and backscattering (bb). The work builds on our recent SBIR success in developing an AUV-compatible beam attenuation meter and backscattering sensor, which have now been deployed on multiple occasions on several AUVs, including a Slocum glider. With these recent technological advances in hand, the primary new innovation is a methodology for determining total scattering with a low-power/volume/cost sensor. Since c = a + b, and c and b will both be directly measured, a can be derived by difference. These techniques will thus allow simultaneous measurement of the fundamental IOP suite (c, b, a, and bb) with a compact, hydrodynamic sensor only several centimeters in length.