Optical properties of sea water in the infrared

Abstract

We have made quantitative measurements of the ratio of the infrared spectral reflectance of standard sea water at near-normal incidence to the corresponding spectral reflectance of pure water at 27°C. The infrared spectral reflectance of standard sea water was determined from the measured ratio and the known optical constants for pure water. The real n(ν) and the imaginary k(ν) parts of the complex index of refraction of standard sea water were then determined by Kramer-Kronig methods. The results obtained for the standard sea water are compared with previous results obtained for pure water and with previous studies of sea water.