University of Maine's
Ocean Optics Summer Course Series 2004

Welcome to the University of Maine's Ocean Optics Summer Courses 2004! This summer two coures will be offered at the Darling Marine Center:

Course 1) Ocean Optics: Observing ocean biogeochemistry with optics, SMS 598
The major theme of this cross-disciplinary, graduate-level course is the application of ocean optical methods to ocean biogeochemistry. The underlying rationale is that optical measurements serve as proxies for important biogeochemical entities – including marine phytoplankton, dissolved organics, and suspended sediment particles. The course will provide students with a fundamental knowledge of ocean optics and sensor technology that will enable them to interpret optical data in context of ocean biogeochemistry. The course is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation, and the University of Maine with the goal of preparing a new generation of oceanographers to participate in ocean observatory science.

Course2) Ocean Optics: Radiative Transfer and Inversions of Ocean Color Remote Sensing, SMS 598
An intensive two-week, cross-disciplinary, graduate-level course in radiative transfer and remote sensing inversions will be taught at the Darling Marine Center in summer 2004. The major theme of this course is the link between ocean color (remotely sensed reflectance) and in-water optical (e.g. absorption, backscattering) and biogeochemical (e.g. dissolved organic matter, phytoplankton absorption) properties. Remotely sensed ocean color provides an unparalleled coverage of the Earth’s oceans in both time and space. The capability to invert that signal into oceanographically relevant variables is a crucial step in using ocean color in oceanography applications. Of particular interest is moving beyond the prediction of chlorophyll pigment in case I waters to the prediction of inherent optical properties in optically complex coastal waters. This course is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the University of Maine with the goal of preparing a new generation of oceanographers with knowledge of radiative transfer and capabilities of using ocean color remote sensing in diverse oceanic waters.


Darling Marine Center
University of Maine
193 Clark's Cove Rd.
Walpole, Maine 04573 – 3307, USA
(207) 563-3146

http://www.dmc.maine.edu