SuBOPS
Submersible Biospherical Optical Profiling System

The Submersible Biospherical Optical Profiling System (SuBOPS) is a water-based in situ sensor that measures water's apparent optical properties (AOPs). The optical profiler is mounted on a kite-like free-fall backplane and descends through the water at speeds less than 20 cm per second to measure AOPs. It operates across 19 channels spanning 320 to 860 nm with a 10 nm full-width at half maximum bandwidth. SuBOPS has a vertical resolution of less than 1 cm and a data acquisition rate of 12 Hz. It has collected vertical profiles in temperate and arctic waters at depths of less than 3 m.