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Secchi disk

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Encyclopedia of Secchi disk

Earth Topics

Published: October 15, 2009, 11:17 pm

About the EoE
Updated: October 5, 2010, 9:18 pm
Lead Author: Leszek Bledzki
Biodiversity Topics: Limnology Environmental Assessment

Wetlands
Biology
Rate:    Average: 5/5

Climate Change
This article has been reviewed by the following Topic Editor: Nidhi Nagabhatla

Table of Contents
Ecology
1 Secchi disk description
Environmental & 2 Value in modern limnology
Earth Science
2.1 Application
3 Range
Energy
3.1 Deepest Recorded Secchi Depth
4 History
Environmental
Law & Policy 5 Great American Secchi Dip-In Program
6 References and further reading
Environmental
Humanities

Agricultural & Secchi disk description

Resource Ec...
The Secchi disk is a device used to measure water transparency in all kinds of open waters (ponds,
lakes, reservoirs, bays, oceans). The Secchi disk is an 8-inch (20 centimeter) white disk or with
Food
alternating black and white equal quadrants. It is lowered into the water of a lake or other water body
until it can be no longer seen by the observer. This depth of disappearance, called the Secchi depth,
Forests Secchi disk reading, Secchi disk visibility or Secchi disk transparency (SDT), is a conventional
measure of the transparency of the water. For the measurement of turbidity, the disk is lowered into
the open water by unwinding the waterproof tape or calibrated line to which the disk is attached and
Geography until the observer loses sight of the disk. The disk is then raised until it reappears. The depth,
measured from the water surface to the level where the disk vanishes and reappears, is the Secchi
Hazards & disk reading. Also, important is the orientation to the sun, which should be on our back while taking
Disasters the measurement. To achieve the best result, the measurement should be taken off the shady side of
a boat in the shadow of our own head lowered on close to the water surface. The original Secchi's
Health disk was all-white. Today most disks used in freshwater bodies have alternating black and white
quadrants, while marine disks are usually all-white. The reasons for the difference is not clear and
Mining & Secchi disk ready to use. may be more historical than theoretical. Early disks of the 19 th century were all white, but George
Materials Whipple (1899) stated that a disk with alternating black and white quadrants was more easily seen
(Photograph by Leszek Bledzki)
and "Whipple's" disk became the standard in freshwater situations. The newest trend in disk color is
People the all-black disk. Developed and used in New Zealand, the disk has the advantage that it can be used in shallow rivers and
streams, because the black disk does not require much water depth.
Physics &
Chemistry Value in modern limnology
Pollution The Secchi disk remains one of the most common, inexpensive and efficient tools in the study of
limnology. Regarded as an accepted method of measuring the transparency for water quality studies
to assess the trophic status of surface waters, especially for various models, it is used widely.
Society &
Several factors influence on the Secchi reading. The most important are some personal features
Environment
such as the eyesight and age of the viewer as well as his/her previous experience, the distance of
the observer from the water surface, cloudiness and other weather conditions, the height of the sun
Water
on the horizon (the time of day the readings are taken, most preferred between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.),
Secchi disk just below the the reflectance and the diameter of the disc, the color of the water and reflection of light (the optics)
surface. (Photograph by Leszek
Weather & at the water surface, clay particles or other suspended (organic and inorganic) materials in the water
Bledzki)
Climate which are related to water turbidity. Scientifically, the depth of transparency is the path length in the
Beer-Lambert's law equation through which light is scattered and absorbed as a function of the
Wildlife concentration of the particles in the water. The Secchi disk transparency is also a function of the reflection of light from the water's

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Secchi disk

surface. Although a general parabolic relationship exists between dissolved organic matter and transparency, theoretical analyses
and empirical observations have shown that the Secchi disk depth is more associated with the particulate suspended matter than
dissolved organics. The particulate suspended matter may be algae or other suspended solids. The Secchi disk depth is a
noticable guide to the euphotic depth that marks the lower bounds of the layer in which net photosynthetic production is possible
and where the growth of water plants becomes limited by lack of light. It is estimated, that euphotic depth corresponds with about
1% of full daylight. Euphotic depth is usually supposed to approximate to 2.0-2.5 meters (m) × Secchi disk depth, in the very clear
oligortophic lakes, the euphotic zone may extended to 30-50 m depth. Transparency (measured also with Secchi disk) is the
reciprocal to the underwater attenuation of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). Secchi disk has been widely accepted as the
efficient tool for water pollution studies.

Application
Measurements of Secchi disk depth have been used in models of lake eutrophication and to estimate throphic state (TSI – trophic
state index) of lakes and were also related to plankton density, biomass and algal production, distribution depth of aquatic
macrophites (plants). A detailed description of the application of the Secchi depth to models, as well as the relation (regression
equations) of the Secchi disk and several limnological parameters (i.e.: pH, total phosphorus concentration, lake area) are given by
Håkanson & Peters (1995). Aarup (2002) retrieved 40 829 Secchi depth measurements from the North Sea and Baltic Sea
collected since 1902 from existing international archives including the ICES Oceanographic Data Center in Denmark, the World
Ocean Data Center in the USA, literature, and institutes that measure Secchi depth on a routine basis. He showed the gradual
change in Secchi depth observed between the clear water in the northern North Sea and the more brackish northern Baltic Sea.

Range
Secchi depth values can range anywhere from a few centimeters in a very turbid waters to over 40 m
in a clear lakes, but mostly observed is the range of 2 to 10 m; seasonal fluctuations occur in
response to seasonal fluctuation of concentration of algae, zooplankton and other suspended solids.
Scientifically accurate measurements of turbidity are performed using a nephelometer.

Deepest Recorded Secchi Depth

Secchi disk lowered into the 80 m on October 13, 1986 in the Weddell Sea, near Antarctica
water. (Photograph by Leszek
Bledzki) 53 m in the eastern Mediterranean
42.4 m and 52.8 m was obtained in Crater Lake (Oregon, USA), using a 20 cm and a 100 cm 
diameter disks, respectively. The maximum Secchi readings (average between descending and
ascending) between 1896 and 2008. On average the 100 cm disk was observed 7 m deeper than the 20 cm disk on the same
dates. The Crater Lake disc visibility data were provided by Dr. Mark Buktenica, the Aquatic Ecologist from the [Crater Lake
National Park]. 

 
History
ARTICLE FEED
A famous Italian astronomer and one of the first astrophysicists, Father Pietro Angelo Secchi (1818-1878), who was a scientific
SITE FEED adviser to the Pope, used the Secchi disk in 1865. Father Secchi was asked by Commander Cialdi, head of the Papal Navy, to
test a new transparency instrument. This instrument, now named the Secchi disk, was first lowered from the papal steam yacht,
l'Immacolata Concezione (The Immaculate Conception) in the Mediterranean Sea on April 20, 1865.

Great American Secchi Dip-In Program

Secchi disk measurements as the lake water quality assessment program have been an integral component of the Great American
Secchi Dip-In, the volunteer monitoring program (run by the Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University, Ohio, USA).
Since 1994, lake residents all over the United States and Canada make periodic (on one day during the weeks surrounding
Canada Day and July Fourth) measurements and submit their readings to state and local agencies. The aggregated longitudinal
data are used to reveal general trends in water quality.

References and further reading

Aarup, T., 2002. Transparency of the North Sea and Baltic Sea - a Secchi depth data mining study., Oceanologia 44: 323-337
Almazan, G., Boyd, C.E. 1978. An evaluation of Secchi disc visibility for estimating plankton density in fish ponds.
Hydrobiologia, 61, 205-208.
Arnone R.A., 1985, Coastal Secchi Depth Atlas, Naval Ocean Research and Development Activity, NSTL, Mississippi 39529,
NORDA Rep. No. 83.
Berman, T., P.D. Walline, A. Schneller, J. Rothenberg, and D.W. Townsend. 1985. Secchi disk depth record: a claim for the
eastern Mediterranean. Limnol. Oceanogr. 30: 447-448.
Canfield, D.E. Jr. and L.M. Hodgson. 1983. Prediction of Secchi disc depths in Florida Lakes: impact of algal biomass and
organic color. Hydrobiologia. 99: 51-60.
Carlson, R.E. 1977. A trophic state index for lakes. Limnol. Oceanogr., 22, 361-369.
Carlson R. 1995. The Secchi disc and the volunteer monitor. LakeLine, 15,28-29, 35-37.
Carlson, R.E. 1997. The Secchi disk in black and white. LakeLine. 17: 14-15, 58-59.
Carlson, R., Lee, J. 1994. "The Great American Secchi Dip-In" Volunteers gather transparency information across the Midwest
Lake Resen'oir Manage., 9, 62.
Carlson, R.E. and J. Simpson. 1996. A Coordinator’s Guide to Volunteer Lake Monitoring Methods. North American Lake
Management Society. 96 pp.
Chambers, P. A, Kalff, J. 1985. Depth distribution and biomass of submersed aquatic macrophyte communities in relation to
Secchi depth. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci., 42, 701 709.
Cole, G.A., 1994. Textbook of Limnology. 4th ed. Prospect Heights: Waveland Press Inc. ISBN: 0881338001.
Cooke, D., et. al. Restoration and Management of Lakes and Reservoirs. 2nd ed. Boca Raton: Lewis Publishers, 1993. ISBN:

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Secchi disk

0873713974.
Davies-Colley, R.J. 1988. Measuring water clarity with a black disk. Limnol. And Oceanogr. 33: 616-623.
Davies-Colley, R.J, W.N. Vant, and D.G. Smith. 1993. Colour and Clarity of Natural Waters. Ellis Horwood.
Edmondson, W.T. 1972. The present condition of Lake Washington. Verh.Internat. Verein. Limnol., 18,284-291.
Gieskes, W.W.C., C. Veth, A. Woehrmann, and M.Graefe 1987. Secchi disc visibility world record Shattered. EOS,
Transactions, American Geophysical Union. 68:123.
Håkanson, L.& R. H. Peters, 1995. Predictive limnology. SPB Academic Publishing bv, Amsterdam. ISBN: 9051031041.
Højerslev N.K., 1986, Visibility of the sea with special reference to the Secchi disc,Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation
Engineers (SPIE), Ocean Optics VIII, 637, 294–305.
Holmes, R.W., 1970. The Secchi disk in turbid coastal waters. Limnol. Oceangr., 15:688-694.
Horne, A., and C. Goldman. 1994. Limnology. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Inc. ISBN: 0070236739.
Hou, Weilin, et al (2007). "Why does the Secchi disk disappear? An imaging perspective", Opt. Express, 15, 2791-2802.
Hutchinson, G.E. 1957. A Treatise on Limnology. Vol. 1. Geography, Physics, and Chemistry. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN:
0471425702.
Krümmel O., 1886, Der Ozean, G. Frentag, Leipzig and Prag, 1–242.
Kufel, L. 1998. Secchi disc measurements: personal aspects. Pol. Arch. Hydrobiol. 45 (1):3-9.
Kufel, L., Królikowska, J. 1996. Structure of submerged littoral vegetation in relation to pelagic trophic state indices. Ekol. pol.,
44, 299-310.
Larson, G.L. and M. W. Buktenica, 1998. Variability of Secchi disk readings in an exceptionally clear and deep caldera lake. 
Archive fur Hydrobiologie 141:377-388.
Larson, G.L., C. D. McIntire, M.W Buktenica, and S.F. Girdner, 2007. Thermal, chemical, and optical properties of Crater Lake,
Oregon. Hydrobiologia 574:69-84.
Larson, D.W. 1972. Temperature, transparency, and phytoplankton productivity in Crater Lake, Oregon. Limnol. Oceanogr. 17:
410-417.
Lathrop, R.C. 1992. Nutrient loadings, lake nutrients, and water clarity. In: J.F. Kitchell. Food web management: A case study
of Lake Mendota . Springer-Verlag. ISBN: 0387977422.
Lind, O.T. (1979). Handbook of Common Methods in Limnology. C.V. Mosby Co., St. Louis. ISBN: 0840337531.
Lorenzen, M.W. 1980. Use of chlorophyll-Secchi disc relationships. LimnoJ. Oceanogr., 25, 371-372.
Megard, R.0., Settles, J.C., Boyer, H.A, Combs Jr., W.S. 1980. Light, Secchi disc, and trophic states. Limnol. Oceanogr., 25,
373-377.
O'Sullivan, P.E.& C.S. Reynolds, 2004. The Lakes Handbook. Limnology and limnetic ecology. Blackwell Publishing, Malden,
MA, USA. ISBN: 0632047976.
Preisendorfer, R. W. 1976. Hydrological Optics, United States Separtment of Commerce. Washington, DC, 382 pp.
Preisendorfer, R.W. 1986. "Secchi disk science: Visual optics of natural waters," Limnol. Oceanogr. 31, 909-926.
Preisendorfer, R.W. 1986. Eyeball optic of natural waters: Secchi disk science. NOAA Tech. Memo. ERL PMEL 67. 90 p. NTIS
PB86 224060/AS.
Sanden, P., Haakansson, B. 1996. Long-term trends in Secchi depth in the Baltic Sea. Limnol. Oceanogr., 41, 346-351.
Secchi, P.A 1866. Rc1azione delle esperienze fatte a bordo dena pontificia pirocorvetta "I'Immacolata Concezione" per
determinare la transparenza del mare [Report on experiments on board the papal steam corvette Immacolata Concezione to
determine the transparency of the sea]. In: Cialdi, A. Sui moto oOOoso del mare e su Ie correnti di esso specialmente su
queUe littorali. 258-288 Roma, Tipografia delle belle Arti. 258-288.
Smith, V.H. 1986. Light and nutrient effects on the relative biomass of blue-green algae in lake phytoplankton. Can. J. Fish.
Aquat. Sci., 43, 148-153. J Water Quality Assessment. 1992. Deborah Chapman [Ed.] London, Chapman & Hall.
Taber, R.W. and H.W. Dubach. 1972. 1001 Questions Answered about the Oceans and Oceanography. Dodd, Mead. ISBN:
0396064965.
Tyler, F.E. 1968. The Secchi disc. Limnol. Oceanogr. 13: 1-6.
Verschuur, G.L. 1997. Transparency measurements in Garner lake, Tennessee; the relationship between Secchi depth and
solar altitude and a suggestion for normalization of Secchi depth data. J. Lake and Reserv. Manage. 13 (2): 142-153.
Wetzel, R.G., 2001. Limnology: Lake and river ecosystems. Academic Press, San Diego. ISBN: 0127447601.
Wetzel, R.G.& G. E. Likens, 1990. Limnological analyses. Springer, New York. ISBN: 0387989285.
Whipple, G.C. 1899, 1910, 1914, 1933. The Microscopy of Drinking Water. John Wiley and Sons. New York and London.
Williams, J. 1970. Optical Properties of the Sea. U.S. Naval Institute. ISBN: 087021506X.

Citation
Leszek Bledzki (Lead Author);Nidhi Nagabhatla (Topic Editor) "Secchi disk". In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland
(Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the
Encyclopedia of Earth October 15, 2009; Last revised Date October 5, 2010; Retrieved May 26, 2012
<http://www.eoearth.org/article/Secchi_disk>

The Author
Leszek A. Bledzki, born in Gdansk, Poland, holds a Ph.D. (1989) in Natural Sciences and a M.S. (1978) in
Environmental Sciences, both from the Nicholas Copernicus University in Torun and a Forestry Engineer (Forest
Management) diploma (1972) from the Forestry High School at Goraj. Since 1995, he has been working at Mount
Holyoke College as a Research Assistant, Research Associate, Visiting Assistant Professor, and Senior Research
Associate in the Department of Biology and the MW Center for th ... (Full Bio)

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