Optical Depth Gauge for Laboratory Studies of Water Waves

The absorption of infrared light by water is used to measure depth. A collimated beam of light from an incandescent filament source is projected through the water from below, filtered, and detected by an infrared sensitive phototube. The quantitative performance of the gauge is assessed, and the effects of refraction and reflection at the the free surface are discussed. A circuit that linearizes the exponential dependence of the phototube output on depth is described. The sensitivity of the gauge and linearizing circuit is determined by calibration to be about 0.05 V/cm, and the smallest measurable wave amplitude, corresponding to unity signal-to-noise ratio, is about 0.07 mm. The accuracy for absolute depth measurement is about ½ mm.