MOORED OCEANOGRAPHIC SPECTRORADIOMETER

FOR APPLICATIONS RANGING FROM THE LONG TERM ASSESSMENT OF THE VARIABILITY OF THE LIVING RESOURCES OF THE SEA, TO THE NAVY STRATEGIC BLUE-GREEN LASER PROJECT, A NEED HAS FOR INSTRUMENTATION TO MEASURE THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF SEAWATER WHICH IS EASILY DEPLOYED FROM A VARIETY OF PLATFORMS AND CAN BE OPERATED UNATTENDED FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME. AS A STEP TOWARD ACHIEVING AN ALL SOLID-STATE, OCEAN-GOING SPECTRORADIOMETER WITH THESE FEATURE, THIS EFFORT COUPLES A MARINE SPECTRORADIOMETER, IN AN ENGINEERINGIN SITU TEST BED, WITH A STATE-OF-THE-ART MICROPRECESSOR. THE MICROPROCESSOR IS USED TO SIMPLIFY OPERATION, IMPROVE DATA INTEGRITY, AND REDUCE DATA PROCESSING OVERHEAD. THE MOORED OBSERVATION PLATFORM OF THE SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY (UC SAN DIEGO) PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY TO DETERMINE THE OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE SYSTEM, FROM DEPLOYMENT ON A MOORED PLATFORM THROUGH FINAL DATA PROCESSING, AS WELL AS THE OPPORTUNITY TO BETA-TEST THE INSTRUMENT DURING PHASE II.