What is Backscatter?

Backscatter is caused by particles such as sediment or plankton being illuminated by lights. It can be an obstacle in collecting quality data.

Backscatter has to do with the positioning of the LEDs, their beam angles and overlap of the camera field of view. The light reflects off particles in the water and shows up as bright dots on your image. Backscatter, seen here as tiny dots, can ruin a great underwater photo. The backscatter is reduced when the LED is positioned further away from the camera.

Backscatter can be reduced by:

• Choosing an LED that is designed to match the camera field of view or is designed to be directional with an 80° beam angle

• Positioning your light as far away from the camera as possible so that the light doesn’t reflect back on your lens