Feasibility of Airborne Laser Bathymetry with Respect to Turbidity in DutchCoastal Waters

摘要

The application of airbone laser bathymetry, an efficient and flexible modernremote sensing depth measuring technique, to Dutch coastal waters, is assessed. The advantages of this technique are outlined, and the limiting factors are considered. It is concluded that the actual penetration capability of an airborne laser bathymeter is critically dependent on water clarity, which is relatively low in the turbid Dutch coastal waters. Several commonly used turbidity parameters are analyzed and the penetration depth of the Larsen 500 lidar system as a function of these turbidity parameters was taken as a representative example of the state of the art technology. Several independent turbidity data sets containing over 3000 optical measurements were used to assess the applicability of laser bathymetry in Dutch coastal waters. From the statistical analysis of the turbidity measurements it is concluded that the penetration probability is certainly no more than about 10 percent and is probably only a few percent. It is evident therefore that laser bathymetry is not applicable in Dutch coastal waters with the present technology.