Dispersion limitations on the precision of the internal standard method in remote laser sounding of the upper layer of seawater

The factors limiting the precision of measurements by the internal standard method are considered in the case of laser sounding of the upper layer of seawater across a rough water surface. Numerical modeling is used to show that, near the depth of focusing of the probe radiation by surface waves, the use of the internal standard method may result in unpredictably large errors because of the dispersion of the refractive index in seawater. The influence of such dispersion is important in dynamic and static measurements in situ.