Abstract

Research on wireless communication in water environments is gaining attention due to its relevance in enabling and supporting new applications under the Underwater Internet of Things (UIoT) umbrella. Visible Light Communication (VLC) is one of the emerging communication technologies with the potential to contribute to this domain, especially concerning direct communications from above the surface to underwater nodes. Although more traditional radio frequency (RF) communications are not suitable for air-to-water communications, VLC offers unique opportunities in this area. In this respect, this work presents a simulative study attempting to theoretically understand the performance of VLC systems in both underwater and air-to-water channels. We explore performance metrics including, link gain, time delay, and bit-error rate, while analyzing the optical signal interruption on the sea surface due to water level changes. The investigation offers preliminary results that shed light on the feasibility and challenges of effectively enabling cross-border air-water communication systems using VLC technologies. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.