Low Light Auto-Radiometer for Deep Sea Irradiance Measurements

海港分部海洋学研究所将进行一个项目，研制一种灵敏的辐射计，以便就地测量水柱的辐照度。海上光学测量对海洋科学野外调查越来越重要，但往往缺乏足够的光学仪器。低光自动辐射计（LoLAR）将采用光电倍增管，比目前使用的基于硅光电二极管技术的仪器具有更高的灵敏度。新仪器将光级探测和测量的灵敏度提高到原来的五倍。在海上使用光电倍增管仪器需要开发几个特殊的设计功能，包括自动校准，温度依赖校正，光收集和数据采集。由于仪器的灵敏度有限，就地辐照度测量主要限于海洋的近地表水。通过能够在水柱深处进行光测量，几种类型的海洋科学研究调查将受益于灵敏度的提高。将受益于这种新仪器的研究类型包括水文光学，它涉及影响海洋中光穿透的物理特性作为深度的函数；群体的光生理，涉及生物的分布及其与不同光场有关的方向；以及生物发光研究。该通用仪器可用于潜水器、远程操作车辆、系泊、渔网和剖面系统。

The Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution will undertake a project to develop a sensitive radiometer for in situ measurements of irradiance in the water column. Optical measurements at sea are becoming increasingly important to ocean science field investigations and adequate optical instrumentation is often lacking. The low light auto- radiometer (LoLAR) will employ a photomultiplier tube which allows greater sensitivity than silicon-photodiode based technology permits on currently used instruments. The new instrument will increase the sensitivity of light level detection and measurement by a factor of five. At-sea use of photomultiplier tube instrumentation requires development of several special design features, including autocalibration, temperature dependency corrections, light collection, and data acquisition. In situ irradiance measurements have been primarily restricted to the near surface waters of the ocean because of limited instrumentation sensitivity. Several types of ocean science research investigations would benefit from increased sensitivity by being able to make light measurements deeper in the water column. The types of research that would benefit from this new instrument include hydrologic optics that relate to physical properties affecting light penetration in the ocean as a function of depth; photophysiology of populations, concerning the distribution of organisms and their orientation as related to different light fields; and bioluminescence research. The general purpose instrument will be usable on submersibles, remotely operated vehicles, moorings, nets, and profiling systems.