OPTICAL CONTACT METHODS OF MONITORING THE HYDROSPHERE AND THEIR POSSIBLE USE IN NEW SCIENTIFIC DIRECTIONS
The main optical methods for monitoring the state of the aquatic environment are considered. In the course of the literature review, it was found that contact optical methods are actively used to study the distribution of phytoplankton biomass, the photosynthetic activity of radiation, and when analyzing the composition of water with contaminants in the form of dissolved organic and suspended matter. However, to study the effect of viral lysis on the optical properties of water as the habitat of aquatic viruses (nano sized hydrobionts), contact optical methods, according to the literature, are practically not used. The first experiments to study the effect of viral lysis on the transparency of marine water have established its role in increasing the transparency of the medium (sea water). We assume that the use of contact optical methods in young and rapidly developing science - aquatic (marine) virology will allow us to obtain new facts about the role of viruses in the functioning of bio systems of hydrosphere and their influence on certain physical parameters of their habitat.