Temporal dispersion in underwater laser communication links: Closing the loop between model and experiment

An elevated interest in underwater optical communications has resulted in the development of numerous theoretical models to predict both signal attenuation and bandwidth (pulse spreading) for underwater optical links. Few, if any, of these models have been experimentally validated, owing mostly to the difficulty in measuring temporal dispersion in these challenging environments. In this work, we begin to close the loop between theory and experiment, by validating a numerical Monte Carlo model against experimental data. Channel attenuation and frequency response is measured out to 1 GHz over ~ 20 attenuation lengths in a line-of-sight configuration.