Relationships between inherent optical properties in the Baltic Sea for application to the underwater imaging problem*

Statistical relationships between coefficients of light attenuation, scattering and backscattering at wavelength 550 nm derived from series of optical measurements performed in Baltic Sea waters are presented. The relationships were derived primarily to support data analysis from underwater imaging systems. Comparison of these relations with analogous empirical data from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans shows that the two sets of relationships are similar, despite the different water types and the various experimental procedures and instrumentation applied. The apparently universal character of the relationships enables an approximate calculation of other optical properties and subsequently of the contrast, signal/noise ratio, visibility range and spatial resolution of underwater imaging systems based on attenuation coefficients at wavelength 550 nm only.