Kirk Marine Optics

  Cliffs of  Moher, County Clare

Atlantic Ocean. West coast of Ireland

Doolin, County Clare

Batemans Bay, New South Wales

Tasman Sea (South Pacific Ocean), Australia

Kirk Marine Optics was established to carry out research into radiative transfer in the ocean and other surface waters.

Why the study of radiative transfer in the ocean is important

70% of the surface of the Earth is covered by ocean. This means that 70% of the solar radiation that drives the climatic and biological systems of our planet is taken up first by the ocean. To understand and predict the operation of the Earth's major physical and living systems we must therefore find out what happens to this stream of solar energy as it passes into the sea. By radiative transfer we mean the process of transmission of electromagnetic radiant energy through any medium, whether the atmosphere, interstellar space, or ocean water. Studying this in the marine ecosystem means determining -

• by what and to what extent the radiation is absorbed

• in what ways its transmission is affected by scattering

• the nature of the steady-state light field that is established within the water column

• the mathematical relationships that describe this light field and how it is determined by the optical character of the seawater

• the conversion of radiant energy into heat energy within the water

• the characteristics of that small part of the solar radiation flux which succeeds in escaping up through the surface again, carrying with it information about the composition of the ocean water

In recent decades there has been increased recognition of the need to understand radiative transfer in the sea because of the greatly increased importance of remote sensing of the oceans from spaceborne satellites. Correct interpretation of the radiation - visible and infrared - received by the satellites from the ocean requires an understanding of what happens to the solar photons within the ocean before some of them emerge from the water and are observed by the radiometers in space.

Kirk Marine Optics

        P.O. Box 3117, Murrumbateman

                NSW 2582, Australia

                                          Email : jtokirk@ozemail.com.au