Laser beam behavior in the sea water

Behaviors of laser beams propagating through the sea water were measured, which are a beam profile and a attenuation characteristic. The maximum distance detecting a laser beam was obtained by using a photon counter to 26.5 attenuation length. The propagation experiment was conducted at Sakaide Bay in Seto inland sea. A new towtype
\alpha
meter was constructed to measure a cluster of optical and oceanic parameters which are required on applying laser beams to the marine electronics.