Spectral Irradiance

The ROV Jason is latched into a recovered, instrumented Science Pod on a Shallow Profiler Mooring at the base of Axial Seamount. The winched profiler has made >2000 trips up and down through the water column. Connected to the submarine cable, the instruments have been sending sending data live back to shore since summer 2015 from 600 ft beneath the oceans' surface. Credit: M. Elend, University of Washington, V16.

Spectral irradiance sensors characterize the total amount of radiation (energy) present at each frequency or bandwidth in the spectrum separately. These measurements depend on the natural illumination conditions of sunlight and measure apparent optical properties. These measurements also are used as proxy measurements of important biogeochemical variables in the ocean.

Spectral Irradiance sensors are installed on the  Science Pods on the Shallow Profiler Moorings at Axial Base (SF01A), Slope Base (SF01A), and at the Endurance Array Offshore (SF01B) sites. Instruments on the Cabled Array are provided by Satlantic - OCR-507. The profiling science pods since 2015 have made >27,000 profiles. They are recovered and replaced annually using a remotely operated vehicle.