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Published November 1966 | Published
Journal Article Open

Optical Depth Gauge for Laboratory Studies of Water Waves

Sturtevant, B.

Abstract

The absorption of infrared light by water is used to measure depth. A collimated beam of light from an incandescent filament source is projected through the water from below, filtered, and detected by an infrared sensitive phototube. The quantitative performance of the gauge is assessed, and the effects of refraction and reflection at the the free surface are discussed. A circuit that linearizes the exponential dependence of the phototube output on depth is described. The sensitivity of the gauge and linearizing circuit is determined by calibration to be about 0.05 V/cm, and the smallest measurable wave amplitude, corresponding to unity signal-to-noise ratio, is about 0.07 mm. The accuracy for absolute depth measurement is about ½ mm.

Additional Information

© 1966 The American Institute of Physics. Received 14 April 1966. Work supported in part by the Office of Naval Research under Contract Nonr 1866(20), and by the Division of Engineering and Applied Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138.

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August 21, 2023
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