Joint US-UK polarized lidar trial

Summary form only given.Experiments with a 532 nanometer laser radar system were conducted off the coasts of Ireland and Scotland in June, 1999. The purpose of this test was to measure the effect of the water optical properties on the polarization state and decay rate of the lidar return signal. The lidar system, the K-meter Survey System (KSS), was configured to transmit linearly polarized light and to receive cross-polarized light in one channel and both polarizations in the other channel. Several oceanographic ground truth instruments were used to measure the water optical properties, including transmission, absorption, backscatter coefficient, diffuse attenuation, temperature and salinity, as a function of depth. The results presented were obtained both inside and outside of the continental shelf. These regions were characterized by very different water optical properties, so the sensitivity of the lidar return signal in terms of decay rate, absolute amplitude, and polarization was determined.