Scattering: Green water
Did
you ever wonder why the water in Hawaii was so green? From an airplane
window, you can see that the ocean surrounding Hawaii is blue, and
then at a certain point the water closer to the island itself becomes
green. This can also be explained by scattering. The ocean appears
to be blue in the first place because water is made up of many little
particles. These particles scatter the Light, of which blue Light
is scattered the most, and is reflected back as blue. But Hawaii
is surrounded by coral. The Light, which reflects back to us from
the ocean, combines with the Light reflected by the coral to create
a green appearance.
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