Solar Sea Flux Flow Chart and Transmission Graphs

© Bob Field 2003

This webpage is still under construction. My senior project student Lode Tigulo and I developed a Mathcad mathematical model of the transmission of light from the Sun through the atmosphere and into the sea. The flow chart below summarizes the input parameters in the left column, the analytical functions using those inputs in the middle column, and the model outputs in the right column. The second chart shows the black body radiation spectrum incident on a horizontal surface for several conditions which will be explained when this webpage is updated in the future. The third and fourth graphs show the absorption and scattering coefficients associated with the atmosphere and the oceans on linear and logarithmic scales. These values are typical values and do not represent any particular environment. No measurements have been made to confirm any of these values. The intent of this model is to illustrate the relationship of various factors and the trends for a variety of marine environments. The next four charts show the transmitted flux on a horizontal receiving surface as a function of wavelength at depths of 1, 3, 10, 30, and 100 meters. The four charts are pure seawater, pure seawater with particulate scatterers, pure seawater with yellow matter absorbers, and pure seawater with green (chlorophyll) matter absorbers. Additional studies could be done with combination of impurities in seawater and with other atmospheric absorbers and scatterers. The last chart shows combinations of water and air absorbers and scatterers on a logarithmic scale.