Optical oceanography

Optical oceanography

116 BOOK REVIEWS Among individual departments, civil engineering offered more course work in hydrology than any other department with geology next. ...

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116

BOOK REVIEWS

Among individual departments, civil engineering offered more course work in hydrology than any other department with geology next. More course hours with hydrology content were available to graduate students than to undergraduate students. Estimates of the number of graduate degrees awarded per year with emphasis in hydrology showed that civil engineering departments accounted for 306 while of the following five departmental groupings, forestry, geology, botany, agricultural engineering, and meteorology, each accounted for approximately equal numbers with a sum of 340. The financial support available for departmental programs and the financial support available per student varied widely among different institutions and different programs. Copies of the report may be obtained by writing to: William S. Butcher, Executive Secretary, UCOWR, Desert Research Institute, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89507.

R.H. LOWE-MCCONNELL(Ed.) : Man-Made Lakes. Proceedings of a symposium held at the Royal Geographical Society, London, on 30 September and 1 October 1965. Symposia of The Institute of Biology, No. 15. London and New York, Academic Press, 1966.9 x 6"; 218 pages; maps, text-figures. 50s. The twenty papers presented at this symposium are concerned with the biological changes likely to take place in man-made lakes, their implications, and the problems they pose. The symposium is divided into sections on tropical and on temperate lakes. Among contributions on tropical lakes the problems of water weeds are considered by E.C.S. Little, who describes their distribution, nuisance values and methods of control. D. Harding writes on conditionsin Kariba Lake, D. W. Ewer on Volta Lake, and P. Leentwar on Lake Brokopondoin Surinam. Other writers discuss the control of endemic disease vectors in relation to engineering construction in certain areas; the creation of new breeding areas for disease vectors; the medical and social problems of population resettlement and other problems. Contributions on temperate lakes include references to the effects of Dutch reclamation schemes, and the effects of the Morecambe Bay and Solway Firth barrages. F.D.

N. K. JERLOV: Optical Oceanography. Elsevier Oceanography Series. Elsevier Publ. Co., Amsterdam. 1968. p. 194. 83 Figs. 8¼ × 5¼ ins. Dfl. 37,50.

BOOK REVIEWS

117

The author of this concise and useful book is Professor of Physical Oceanography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and formerly Head of the Hydrographical Department of the Swedish Board of Fisheries. The purpose of the book is to bring together into a comprehensive review what is known about optics of the sea; in its preparation the author has made extensive use of existing literature, especially Russian, and the accompanying list of references runs into 15 pages. In his Introduction the author states that optical oceanography considers the sea from an optical standpoint and is generally considered as a special branch of oceanography. The subject is chiefly physical, and aspires to employ strict definitions of the quantities measured. Underwater optics have wide applications in oceanography and related fields, and attract growing attention to the possibility of characterizing water masses by means of their optical properties. The propagation of light in the atmosphere and in the sea is dominated by different physical processes. The atmosphere is primarily a scatter-medium whereas in the ocean absorption as well as scattering plays an essential role. It has long been known that the total radiant energy from sun and sky loses half its value in the first half-meter of water, owing chiefly to strong absorption in the infra-red. Part I of the book covers the inherent Optical Properties of Sea Water, with particular reference to scattering and beam attenuation; Part II, Underwater Radiant Energy, covers global radiation incident on the sea surface, reflection at the sea surface, refraction at the sea surface, underwater light measurement, radiance and irradiance, polarization of underwater radiant energy, and colour of the sea; Part III, Application of Optical Methods, covers physical oceanography and marine biology, including bioluminescence and animal orientation. The work should be of value not only to oceanographers but also to a large group of workers in allied fields, such as biologists, geologists and people studying underwater visibility and water pollution. It will also be a valuable text book for students specializing in physical oceanography. F.D.

Ground Water Problems: Edited by E. ERICKSSON,Y. GUSTAFSSON,K. NILSSON. Wenner-Gren Centre International Symposium Series, Vol. II. Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1968. p. 223. Illus.

This volume comprises the Proceedings of the International Symposium held in Stockholm in October 1966. The Symposium was organized by the