Application of tuneable lidars of FLS-series in marine investigations

    S. Babichenko (1), J. Lapimaa (2), S. Minko (2), L. Poryvkina (1)

    (1) : Institute of Ecology, Kevade St. 2, EE0001 Tallinn, Estonia
    (2) : Laser Diagnostic Instruments Ltd., Kadaka ave. 165, Tallinn, Estonia

    The paper summarises the results obtained by tuneable lidar in different applications of remote sensing of the marine environment. The series of Fluorescent Lidar Systems (FLS) based on excimer and dye-lasers and multi-channel optical detector is described. The optimisation of operational parameters of the FLS-lidar made is possible to use module construction of lidar on board of ship or aircraft.

    The approach of selective excitation of phytoplankton pigments has been applied to investigate the small-scale spatial inhomogeneities of phytoplankton distribution over the water basins, including stratification, and to produce the maps of various phytoplankton groups. The comparison of lidar and sampling data revealed the difference in remote data calibration when sensing the mixed phytoplankton community or the community with expressed dominant species.

    The UV excitation channel of FLS-lidar has been used to map oil pollution in sea water onboard aircraft. By using the difference in spectral shapes of returned fluorescent signals recorded by gated multi-channel detector, the trace amounts of oil pollution were detected

    The future development of the techniques for shipboard and airborne application is discussed. The field data of remote sensing of organic pollution, DOM and phytoplankton in the Baltic and Norwegian seas are presented.