Isotropic spherical source analysis for ocean optics

Plane-to-point transformations are used to develop a version of the Hydroli ght computer program with which to compute the spatial dependence of the ir radiance and the scalar irradiance of the light field away from an isotropi c point source deep within a spatially uniform ocean. The transformations a re also used to derive analytic approximations for determining the diffuse attenuation coefficient and the mean cosine of the radiance far from an iso tropic point source. Approximations for determining the asymptotic diffuse attenuation coefficient from measurements at only two distances far from th e source are derived and numerically tested with the modified version of th e Hydrolight computer program. New spatial integrals of the outward irradia nce are also derived that provide a different way for correlating the inher ent optical properties of seawater. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America OCI S codes: 010.0010, 010.4450, 030.5620, 290.7050.