Modeling the Water Bottom Geometry Effect on Peak Time Shifting in LiDAR Bathymetric Waveforms

Bathymetry is usually determined using the positions of the water surface and the water bottom peaks of the green LiDAR waveform. The water bottom peak characteristics are known to be sensitive to the bottom slope, which induces pulse stretching. However, the effects of a more complex bottom geometry within the footprint below semitransparent media are less understood. In this letter, the effects of the water bottom geometry on the shifting of the bottom peaks in the waveforms were modeled. For the sake of simplicity, the bottom geometry is modeled as a 1D sequence of successive contiguous segments with various slopes. The positions of the peaks in waveforms were deduced using a conventional peak detection process on simulated waveforms. The waveforms were simulated using the existing Wa-LID waveform simulator, which was extended in this study to account for a 1D complex bottom geometry. An experimental design using various water depths, bottom slopes, and LiDAR footprint sizes according to the design of satellite sensors was used for the waveform simulation. Power laws that explained the peak time shifting as a function of the footprint size and the water bottom slope were approximated. Peak shifting induces a bias in the bathymetry estimates that is based on a peak detection of up to 92% of the true water depth. This bias may also explain the frequent underestimation of the water depth from bathymetric airborne LiDAR surveys observed in various empirical studies.