Isotropic spherical source analysis for ocean optics.

Plane-to-point transformations are used to develop a version of the Hydrolight computer program with which to compute the spatial dependence of the irradiance and the scalar irradiance of the light field away from an isotropic point source deep within a spatially uniform ocean. The transformations are also used to derive analytic approximations for determining the diffuse attenuation coefficient and the mean cosine of the radiance far from an isotropic point source. Approximations for determining the asymptotic diffuse attenuation coefficient from measurements at only two distances far from the source are derived and numerically tested with the modified version of the Hydrolight computer program. New spatial integrals of the outward irradiance are also derived that provide a different way for correlating the inherent optical properties of seawater.