Turbidity Gauge for Viz

[BoundForElsewhere]

Science is so sexy.

 

[Rick Brant]

This would be to take in and out of the water daily, it won't be left behind.

 

[tursiops]

You could use my diving method: Descend until you can't see ripples on the surface from the depth you're at.

This is vertical viz...not quite the same thing as most divers mean by (horizontal) viz.

One of my first gigs out of college, was measuring turbidity / water clarity in some Northern California lakes, using Secchi disks -- black and white patterned flat plates, suspended from weighted, gauged lengths of rope.

You determined the level of basic visual clarity by the disc's visibility at given depths, and the measurement markings on the line . . .

Secchi disk measurements were long ago discredited for any scientific purposes, but they are still popular for light attenutation estimates (not really turbidity) for management purposes...they are easy and cheap.

 

[CuzzA]

Does anyone have experience with using a turbidity gauge in the ocean? I'm looking for something that I can use to quantify conditions on a daily basis. Over time I want to compare these readings with subjective visibility estimates. We have a stream with variable flow into the ocean and we want to be able to measure the impacts of specific flows from storms. So I'm looking for a handheld, hopfully submersible gauge.

The NASA Worldview app is the most accurate visibility technology I have found to gauge visability before a trip.

 

[Bigbella]

This is vertical viz...not quite the same thing as most divers mean by (horizontal) viz.

Secchi disk measurements were long ago discredited for any scientific purposes, but they are still popular for light attenutation estimates (not really turbidity) for management purposes...they are easy and cheap.

Be that as it may, Secchi are still being used in UC oceanography classes, according to my niece, who futzed with them last Winter; are still actively used in the Mediterranean; and I well know of its limited use, but brought it up, nonetheless, because "they are easy and cheap" and not eight grand . . .

 

[Seaweed Doc]

This is vertical viz...not quite the same thing as most divers mean by (horizontal) viz.

I like to think of it as "horizontal viz integrated over a vertical gradient."