This report documents the scientific activities that took place at the Acqua Alta Oceanographic Tower (AAOT) in the northern Adriatic Sea off the coast of Italy from 2--6 August 1999. The ultimate objective of the field campaign was to evaluate the capabilities of a new instrument called the SeaWiFS Photometer Revision for Incident Surface Measurements (SeaPRISM). SeaPRISM is based on a CE-318 sun photometer made by CIMEL Electronique (Paris, France). The CE-318 is an automated, robotic system which measures the direct sun irradiance plus the sky radiance in the sun plane and in the almucantar plane. The data are transmitted over a satellite link, and this remote operation capability has made the device very useful for atmospheric measurements. The revision to the CE-318 that makes the instrument potentially useful for SeaWiFS calibration and validation activities is to include a capability for measuring the radiance leaving the sea surface in wavelengths suitable for the determination of chlorophyll a concentration. The initial evaluation of this new capability involved above- and in-water measurement protocols. An intercomparison of the water-leaving radiances derived from SeaPRISM and an in-water system showed the overall spectral agreement was approximately 8.6%, but the blue-green channels intercompared at the 5% level. A blue-green band ratio comparison was at the 4% level.
