Coastal Benthic Optical Properties (CoBOP) is a 5-year initiative, started in FY-1997, to investigate optical processes associated with the shallow ocean floor. The science objectives of this initiative are

• To define and develop the means to measure the inherent optical properties associated with coastal benthic environments.
• To verify state-of-the art radiative transfer models for optically-shallow water in controlled field tests.
• To investigate the relationships between measured benthic optical properties and associated biological, chemical and physical processes.

The initiative is field oriented and emphasizes the interaction of light with coral reefs, sea grasses and associated marine sediments. Collaboration is on-going between CoBOP and other research and development programs (within DOD) concerned with remote sensing and underwater imaging.

The research group directed by Charles Mazel is concerned primarily with the coral reef portion, but the instrumentation developed here will also be applied to the other environments.

Preliminary field research was conducted in the summers of 1995 and 1996 at sites in the Dry Tortugas, Florida.