Lasers for lidar bathymetry and oceanographic research: choice criteria

The recent developments in manufacturing of various types of lasers, including new modifications of YAG:Nd, Cu vapor, and dye lasers, are considered from the point of view of application in airborne systems designed for remote sensing of natural water bodies. The general expressions are given to analyze the effect of laser source wavelength on different components of receiving echo-signals from water column and bottom reflection. With the use of the expressions and general optical detection theory based on Sakett´s D-index of discriminability, a criterion is formulated for optimal choice of sounding radiation wavelength for airborne lidar systems which takes into account the sunlight composition as well as spectral dependencies of PMT photocathode sensitivity, hydrooptical characteristics of sea water and bottom reflectivity. Several results are presented to compare the effectiveness use of different laser sources for lidar bathymetry applications for various types of ocean waters and meteorological conditions