Secchi disk

The Secchi disk, as created in 1865 by Angelo Secchi, is a plain white, circular disk 30 cm (12 in) in diameter used to measure water transparency in bodies of water. The disc is mounted on a pole or line, and lowered slowly down in the water. The depth at which the disk is no longer visible is taken as a measure of the transparency of the water. This measure is known as the Secchi depth and is related to water turbidity. Since its invention, the disk has also been used in a modified, smaller 20 cm (8 in) diameter, black and white design to measure freshwater transparency.

History

The original Secchi disk was a plain white disk and it was used in the Mediterranean Sea. Today, a plain white, 30 cm diameter Secchi disk remains the standard design used in marine studies. In 1899 George C. Whipple modified the original all-white Secchi disk to “…a disc about 8 inches in diameter, divided into quadrants painted alternately black and white like the target of a level-rod…”. This modified black and white Secchi disk is the standard disk now used in limnology (freshwater) investigations.