In many natural waters, the volume scattering coefficient for particles b_p (l) is comparable to, or larger than, that of pure water. Moreover, the shape of a particle scattering phase function _w (l, y), an example of which is illustrated as the solid curve in Figure 1.3, is strongly peaked—by several orders of magnitude—in the forward direction. The extreme contrast between the angular probability distributions of particulate and molecular scattering (the dashed curve in Fig. 1.3) are important factors that must be considered when designing transmissometers and scattering meters for use in the sea.

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Intro to IOPs
More on IOPs: absorption • beam attenuation • volume scattering function • fluorescence • turbidity • scattering
More on scattering: scattering by pure water • scattering coefficient • scattering by particles • scattering by turbulence