Light Scattering By Pure Seawater At Subzero Temperatures

• Published in: Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers
• Main Authors: Hu, Lianbo, Zhang, Xiaodong, Perry, Mary Jane
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: The Aquila Digital Community 2020
• Subjects: light scattering; seawater; sub-zero temperature; Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology; Physical Sciences and Mathematics; Antarctic; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/17903; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2020.103306

We found that the Hu et al. model for light scattering by pure seawater [Deep Sea Research Part I, 146, 103–109 (2019)] can be applied to waters with sub-zero temperature, which was outside the applicable range of the original equation for the refractive index of water that is used in the model. The surface waters with temperature < −1 °C in the Arctic Ocean and surrounding the Antarctic exhibit the largest molecular scattering that is approximately 7% greater than the tropic waters, and this difference is mainly due to the temperature contrast between the two areas. The Hu et al. model can be applied with an overall uncertainty of 2% from 350 to 1100 nm to nearly all natural oceanic water bodies, with temperature from −6 to 30 °C, salinity from 0 to 120 g kg−1, depth from surface to approximately 10,000 m.