Experimental and simulation assessments of underwater light propagation

Abstract

This paper investigates the light propagation through several types of water by experimental and simulation. The Zemax-ray tracing software allowed to simulate the propagation of light in water and to observe the receiver response by reproducing the real conditions of propagation. The underwater environment has been reproduced by a 1.2 m long water tube and 20 cm in diameter with a glass window fitted on one side. The use of tap water with different amounts of sand leads toward three types of water with different attenuation coefficients (0.133, 0.343, 0.580 m⁻¹). The light transmission in the three types of water was experimentally evaluated using a doubled Nd:YAG laser with energy of 4.3 mJ and a pulse width of 20 ns. Comparisons were done between simulation and experimental results.

Keywords

underwater light propagation / attenuation coefficient / telescope / laser range finder

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