Publication Abstract

Inferring the surface irradiance from measurements made at depth

P. A. Ekstrom

When doing geolocation based on light measurements made aboard a diving animal, the first step is to infer the surface irradiance from measurements made at depth. The choice of optical pass band strongly affects the complexity of the problem, and a simple model of light absorption can elucidate the effects of various pass band choices.

Choosing a pass band that yields a simple problem leads to algorithms that first determine water properties from a day's light and depth data, then recover an estimate of the surface irradiance during the day. These algorithms are both simple enough and robust enough to be implemented in the measurement platform aboard an animal. We illustrate the effect of algorithm choices using data obtained and processed aboard a free-swimming tuna.

Reference:

P.A. Ekstrom. 2003. Inferring the surface irradiance from measurements made at depth.