[1] Many studies have investigated bubble size distributions in the ocean, but the measured size range does not normally extend to bubbles with a radius below 20 mm. Bubbles smaller than this are thought to have a significant effect on the optical properties of the ocean, potentially affecting remotely sensed measurements of ocean color and the optical detection of particulates and dissolved matter. Such optical data are becoming the major source of oceanic information about algal blooms, primary productivity, sediment loading and the spread of pollutants. The challenges associated with measuring these bubbles are difficulty of calibrating sensors with independent bubble size measurements and lack of knowledge about the organic coating on the bubbles. This paper describes simultaneous oceanic measurements of these small bubbles using independent optical and acoustical techniques. These measurements agree well, and an investigation of the bubble coating parameters was made. Both the optical and acoustical properties of bubbles are affected by this organic coating, and a comparison of these measurements narrows down the choice of possible coating parameters. Our results suggest that the bubbles measured in this study were likely to have a coating with a thickness of 10 nm and a refractive index of 1.18, and that the coating thickness is the more important parameter for optical inversions. The research described here is the first attempt to constrain these parameters in the ocean using two independent techniques and suggests that further studies of this type could result in significant insight into oceanic bubble coatings.
Abstract. In the aquatic environment, particles can be broadly separated into phytoplankton (PHY), non-algal particle (NAP) and dissolved (or very small particle, VSP) fractions. Typically, absorption spectra are inverted to quantify these fractions, but volume scattering functions (VSFs) can also be used. Both absorption spectra and VSFs were used to estimate particle fractions for an experiment in the Chesapeake Bay. A complete set of water inherent optical properties was measured using a suite of commercial instruments and a prototype Multispectral Volume Scattering Meter (MVSM); the chlorophyll concentration, [Chl] was determined using the HPLC method. The total scattering coefficient measured by an ac-s and the VSF at a few backward angles measured by a HydroScat-6 and an ECO-VSF agreed with the LISST and MVSM data within 5%, thus indicating inter-instrument consistency. The size distribution and scattering parameters for PHY, NAP and VSP were inverted from measured VSFs. For the absorption inversion, the "dissolved" absorption spectra were measured for filtrate passing through a 0.2 μm filter, whereas [Chl] and NAP absorption spectra were inverted from the particulate fraction. Even though the total scattering coefficient showed no correlation with [Chl], estimates of [Chl] from the VSF-inversion agreed well with the HPLC measurements (r = 0.68, mean relative errors = −20%). The scattering associated with NAP and VSP both correlated well with the NAP and "dissolved" absorption coefficients, respectively. While NAP dominated forward, and hence total, scattering, our results also suggest that the scattering by VSP was far from negligible and dominated backscattering. Since the sizes of VSP range from 0.02 to 0.2 μm, covering (a portion of) the operationally defined "dissolved" matter, the typical assumption that colored dissolved organic matter (i.e., CDOM) does not scatter may not hold, particularly in a coastal or estuarine environment.
Previous studies suggested that winds would indirectly affect the remote sensing of ocean color. Moderately roughened sea enhances the probability of specular reflection of solar disk by randomly orientated wave facets. Whitecaps due to breaking waves increase the diffuse reflectance of sea surface and hence radiant energy received at a color sensor. In this study we will investigate the effect of bubbles, primarily formed in the upper ocean as a result of breaking waves, on the color of the ocean. Bubbles are ubiquitous in the upper ocean. Field observations suggested that the bubble plumes, initially injected by breaking waves, will evolve into a more or less horizontally uniform stratus layer of bubbles when wind speeds are over 7 m s -1 , and this bubble layer could last 3 or 4 hours after waves cease breaking. The density distribution of the bubble layer is modeled as a function of wind speeds and its contribution to the surface reflectance is investigated using radiative transfer model. The results indicate that wind will increase the overall surface reflectance with the contributions to the blue and green wavelengths primarily due to the subsurface bubble layer and the red and infrared due to whitecaps. The planetary albedo, the spectrally integrated reflectance for the entire visible domain and used for global radiative budget study, however, is largely determined by the underwater bubble layer. Our study suggests that only applying whitecap correction for the retrieval of waterleaving radiance from satellite observation will still lead to overestimate of chlorophyll concentration and this effect is more severe in clear oceans. Also previous estimates of global albedo for wind-roughened sea might be underestimated because the contribution by bubbles has not been taken into account.
Abstract. Submerged oceanic bubbles, which have a much longer life span than whitecaps or bubble rafts, have been hypothesized to increase the water-leaving radiance and thus affect satellite-based estimates of water-leaving radiance to non-trivial levels. This study explores this effect further to determine whether such bubbles are of sufficient magnitude to impact satellite aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrievals through perturbation of the lower boundary conditions. There has been significant discussion in the community regarding the high positive biases in retrieved AODs in many remote ocean regions. In this study, for the first time, the effects of oceanic bubbles on satellite retrievals of AOD are studied by using a linked Second Simulation of a Satellite Signal in the Solar Spectrum (6S) atmospheric and HydroLight oceanic radiative transfer models. The results suggest an insignificant impact on AOD retrievals in regions with near-surface wind speeds of less than 12 m s −1 . However, the impact of bubbles on aerosol retrievals could be on the order of 0.02-0.04 for higher wind conditions within the scope of our simulations (e.g., winds < 20 m s −1 ). This bias is propagated to global scales using 1 year of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer EOS (AMSR-E) data to investigate the possible impacts of oceanic bubbles on an enhanced AOD belt observed over the high-latitude southern oceans (also called the enhanced southern oceans anomaly, or ESOA) by some passive satellite sensors. Ultimately, this study is supportive of the null hypothesis: submerged bubbles are not the major contributor to the ESOA feature. This said, as retrievals progress to higher and higher resolutions, such as from airborne platforms, the uniform bubble correction in clean marine conditions should probably be separately accounted for against individual bright whitecaps and bubble rafts.
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