OVERVIEW
Measuring the color of the ocean provides important information about the health of the Earth’s oceans. The ocean is composed of many different substances which can contribute to the scattering of light at different wavelengths. One important substance is phytoplankton (marine based algae) which contributes to the greenish color of the ocean and is used to monitor and is an important sink for carbon dioxide.
GENESIS INVOLVEMENT
OCI Optical Analysis
We are supporting the OCI (Ocean Color Instrument) by working in the analysis of the OCI optical system. Stray light can interfere with the quality of the OCI measurements by affecting its accuracy. Stray light analysis helps to ensure that the OCI is measuring what it intends to and that most of the errant light entering the optical system is blocked by the detector. Optical tolerancing analysis provides an overall uncertainty budget in the optical systems ensuring that the instrument will meet its goals.
