- Email: [email protected]
Special edition: Methods in optical oceanography
Methods in Oceanography 7 (2013) 1–2
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Methods in Oceanography journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mio
Editorial
Special edition: Methods in optical oceanography Optical oceanography, the study of how light interacts with the world’s oceans, has developed considerably in the past quarter of a century and has becoming increasingly entwined with related disciplines focused on physical, biological, and chemical processes. Optical sensors deployed from ships and aboard unmanned fixed and mobile infrastructure have become ubiquitous within the international oceanographic community. Backscatter and fluorometric sensors are standard components on ocean gliders and other autonomous platforms and spectral absorption and attenuation meters are routinely deployed during ship surveys and are key components within ocean observatories. In situ observation of inherent optical properties (IOP), including light scatter, attenuation, and absorption, support research and monitoring programs directed at societally relevant problems such as the global ocean carbon budget, harmful algal bloom detection and prediction, sediment transport, and pollution discharge. Vicarious calibration of satellite ocean color sensors, critical for monitoring global biogeochemical processes related to climate change, depends on accurate and coincidental in situ optical measurements. No single scientist has contributed more to the body of knowledge concerning ocean IOP than Dr. J. Ronald V. Zaneveld, professor emeritus at Oregon State University. His 50 years of work spans theory, instrument design, field observations, and education. His many publications are seminal works, many examining the properties and processes of oceanic particulate and dissolved matter, and students and postdoctoral fellows that he has mentored over the years have become leaders within the oceanographic community. He played leading roles in the establishment of two companies dedicated to manufacturing IOP instruments. In 2006, Dr. Zaneveld received the prestigious Jerlov Award, offered by The Oceanography Society for excellence in ocean optics research, education, and community service. Outside of his professional pursuits, he is an accomplished sailor and painter. His body of work blurs the boundaries between basic and applied research, exploration and entrepreneurism, and technology and art; in total the qualities of a consummate renaissance scientist. I was introduced to Dr. Zaneveld in 1993, having just started working for the Office of Naval Research as manager of the Ocean Optics Program. He had returned to academic life in 1988 after having sailed and painted his way around the South Pacific with his family. I had, as did all students of ocean optics, read his scientific papers and was impressed with his ability to influence a field of science and yet find balance between science and the rest of his life. I had just issued a request for proposals for a new research initiative to investigate the interactions of optical and microwave energy with Arctic sea ice. In response Dr. Zaneveld and his team concocted an idea to build a drilling rig designed to bore a small, diagonal shaft into sea ice and to position optical sensors within the shaft at various depths in order to, for the first time, document vertical profiles of the natural in-ice light field from top to bottom. In practice, the approach was a complete success and over the years I came to expect from him this sort of creative yet pragmatic approach to problem solving. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mio.2014.02.004 2211-1220/© 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V.
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Editorial / Methods in Oceanography 7 (2013) 1–2
Methods in Oceanography is proud to publish this special issue highlighting the scientific contributions of Dr. Zaneveld along with emerging approaches to measuring and interpreting in situ IOP. It includes a personal retrospective by Dr. Zaneveld and eight methods papers authored by researchers who’s work has been influenced by his mentoring and scientific contributions.
Steven G. Ackleson Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, 20375, United States E-mail address: [email protected]. Available online 14 March 2014
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Methods in Oceanography journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mio
Editorial
Special edition: Methods in optical oceanography Optical oceanography, the study of how light interacts with the world’s oceans, has developed considerably in the past quarter of a century and has becoming increasingly entwined with related disciplines focused on physical, biological, and chemical processes. Optical sensors deployed from ships and aboard unmanned fixed and mobile infrastructure have become ubiquitous within the international oceanographic community. Backscatter and fluorometric sensors are standard components on ocean gliders and other autonomous platforms and spectral absorption and attenuation meters are routinely deployed during ship surveys and are key components within ocean observatories. In situ observation of inherent optical properties (IOP), including light scatter, attenuation, and absorption, support research and monitoring programs directed at societally relevant problems such as the global ocean carbon budget, harmful algal bloom detection and prediction, sediment transport, and pollution discharge. Vicarious calibration of satellite ocean color sensors, critical for monitoring global biogeochemical processes related to climate change, depends on accurate and coincidental in situ optical measurements. No single scientist has contributed more to the body of knowledge concerning ocean IOP than Dr. J. Ronald V. Zaneveld, professor emeritus at Oregon State University. His 50 years of work spans theory, instrument design, field observations, and education. His many publications are seminal works, many examining the properties and processes of oceanic particulate and dissolved matter, and students and postdoctoral fellows that he has mentored over the years have become leaders within the oceanographic community. He played leading roles in the establishment of two companies dedicated to manufacturing IOP instruments. In 2006, Dr. Zaneveld received the prestigious Jerlov Award, offered by The Oceanography Society for excellence in ocean optics research, education, and community service. Outside of his professional pursuits, he is an accomplished sailor and painter. His body of work blurs the boundaries between basic and applied research, exploration and entrepreneurism, and technology and art; in total the qualities of a consummate renaissance scientist. I was introduced to Dr. Zaneveld in 1993, having just started working for the Office of Naval Research as manager of the Ocean Optics Program. He had returned to academic life in 1988 after having sailed and painted his way around the South Pacific with his family. I had, as did all students of ocean optics, read his scientific papers and was impressed with his ability to influence a field of science and yet find balance between science and the rest of his life. I had just issued a request for proposals for a new research initiative to investigate the interactions of optical and microwave energy with Arctic sea ice. In response Dr. Zaneveld and his team concocted an idea to build a drilling rig designed to bore a small, diagonal shaft into sea ice and to position optical sensors within the shaft at various depths in order to, for the first time, document vertical profiles of the natural in-ice light field from top to bottom. In practice, the approach was a complete success and over the years I came to expect from him this sort of creative yet pragmatic approach to problem solving. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mio.2014.02.004 2211-1220/© 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V.
2
Editorial / Methods in Oceanography 7 (2013) 1–2
Methods in Oceanography is proud to publish this special issue highlighting the scientific contributions of Dr. Zaneveld along with emerging approaches to measuring and interpreting in situ IOP. It includes a personal retrospective by Dr. Zaneveld and eight methods papers authored by researchers who’s work has been influenced by his mentoring and scientific contributions.
Steven G. Ackleson Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, 20375, United States E-mail address: [email protected]. Available online 14 March 2014