A Balance-by-Depth Method for the Photoelectric Measurement of the Vertical Extinction Coefficient of Water

Extract

Vertical extinction coefficients can be determined in water using selenium rectifier cells and colour filters. The cells are connected positive to negative with a simple 0-50 microammeter across the circuit, as in the Campbell-Freeth method. There is no deflexion when the two points of contact are brought to the same potential. This is done by lowering one cell into the sea to balance the rather less sensitive deck cell. The light reaching the latter is then reduced by the successive addition of opalized plates, to approximately 60, 30, 20 and 10 %, and the sea cell is lowered further to balance at each stage. The extinctions can then be calculated by the usual formula from the known percentage transmissions and the observed depths of balance. For each plate or combination a factor may thus be obtained which when divided by the appropriate depth gives the extinction. The method is rapid in operation and the drift error can be rendered negligible. The results agree with those found by the standard potentiometer method, but the applications of the new method are necessarily more limited.