Laboratory measurements of light scattering from marine particles

Abstract

We present an improved technique for measurements of the volume‐scattering function (VSF) for marine particles, which include added spectral information, a novel optical design of the sample container, and two new ways of eliminating unwanted reflections. The novel optical design enables us to measure an angular range comparable to the largest angular range previously reported. Our improved setup eliminates the need for an empirically based data correction and reveals interesting characteristics of the VSF for different phytoplankton species. Measurements with our improved setup provide information that is important to understand and simulate radiative transfer in the ocean.