This volume covers the significant advances made in the field of optical oceanography over the last decade. It is the most complete description of the subject to date and is written in a format suitable for both researchers and students in oceanography, geophysics, biology, and biochemistry. An eclectic blend of information, the book covers the theories, experiments, and instrumentation that now characterize the ways in which optical oceanography is studied. The most significant element of the text is its interdisciplinary flavour. The reader is led from the physical concepts of radiative transfer, through the experimental techniques used in the lab' and at sea and process-oriented discussions of the biochemical mechanisms responsible for oceanic optical variability.