C.W. Wright

Remote Sensing of Channels and Riparian Zones with a Narrow-Beam Aquatic-Terrestrial LIDAR

The high-resolution Experimental Advanced Airborne Research LIDAR (EAARL) is a new technology for cross-environment surveys of channels and floodplains. EAARL measurements of basic channel geometry, such as wetted cross-sectional area, are within a few percent of those from control field surveys. The largest channel mapping errors are along stream banks. The LIDAR data adequately support 1D and 2D computational fluid dynamics models and frequency domain analyses by wavelet transforms. Further work is needed to establish the stream monitoring capability of the EAARL and the range of water quality conditions in which this sensor will accurately map river bathymetry.

Geomorphic controls on salmon nesting patterns described by a new, narrow‐beam terrestrial–aquatic lidar

Riverine aquatic biodiversity is rapidly being lost worldwide, but preservation efforts are hampered, in part because studies of these dynamic environments are limited by cost and logistics to small local surveys. Full understanding of stream ecosystems requires precise, high-resolution mapping of entire stream networks and adjacent landforms. We use a narrow-beam, water-penetrating, green lidar system to continuously map 10 km of a mountain stream channel, including its floodplain topography, and wavelet analyses to investigate spatial patterns of channel morphology and salmon spawning. Results suggest the broadest fluvial domains are a legacy of approximately 15 000 years of post-glacial valley evolution and that local pool–riffle channel topography is controlled by contemporary hydraulics operating on this broad template. Salmon spawning patterns closely reflect these hierarchical physical domains, demonstrating how geomorphic history can influence modern distributions of aquatic habitat and organisms. The new terrestrial–aquatic lidar could catalyze rapid advances in understanding, managing, and monitoring of valuable aquatic ecosystems through unprecedented mapping and attendant analyses.

Airborne polarized lidar detection of scattering layers in the ocean

A polarized lidar technique based on measurements of waveforms of the two orthogonal-polarized components of the backscattered light pulse is proposed to retrieve vertical profiles of the seawater scattering coefficient. The physical rationale for the polarized technique is that depolarization of backscattered light originating from a linearly polarized laser beam is caused largely by multiple small-angle scattering from particulate matter in seawater. The magnitude of the small-angle scattering is determined by the scattering coefficient. Therefore information on the vertical distribution of the scattering coefficient can be derived potentially from measurements of the time-depth dependence of depolarization in the backscattered laser pulse. The polarized technique was verified by field measurements conducted in the Middle Atlantic Bight of the western North Atlantic Ocean that were supported by in situ measurements of the beam attenuation coefficient. The airborne polarized lidar measured the time-depth dependence of the backscattered laser pulse in two orthogonal-polarized components. Vertical profiles of the scattering coefficient retrieved from the time-depth depolarization of the backscattered laser pulse were compared with measured profiles of the beam attenuation coefficient. The comparison showed that retrieved profiles of the scattering coefficient clearly reproduce the main features of the measured profiles of the beam attenuation coefficient. Underwater scattering layers were detected at depths of 20-25 m in turbid coastal waters. The improvement in dynamic range afforded by the polarized lidar technique offers a strong potential benefit for airborne lidar bathymetric applications.

Spatial variability of oceanic phycoerythrin spectral types derived from airborne laser-induced fluorescence emissions

We report spatial variability of oceanic phycoerythrin spectral types detected by means of a blue spectral shift in airborne laser-induced fluorescence emission. The blue shift of the phycoerythrobilin fluorescence is known from laboratory studies to be induced by phycourobilin chromophore substitution at phycoerythrobilin chromophore sites in some strains of phycoerythrin-containing marine cyanobacteria. The airborne 532-nm laser-induced phycoerythrin fluorescence of the upper oceanic volume showed distinct segregation of cyanobacterial chromophore types in a flight transect from coastal water to the Sargasso Sea in the western North Atlantic. High phycourobilin levels were restricted to the oceanic (oligotrophic) end of the flight transect, in agreement with historical ship findings. These remotely observed phycoerythrin spectral fluorescence shifts have the potential to permit rapid, wide-area studies of the spatial variability of spectrally distinct cyanobacteria, especially across interfacial regions of coastal and oceanic water masses. Airborne laser-induced phytoplankton spectral fluorescence observations also further the development of satellite algorithms for passive detection of phytoplankton pigments. Optical modifications to the NASA Airborne Oceanographic Lidar are briefly described that permitted observation of the fluorescence spectral shifts.

Airborne laser-induced oceanic chlorophyll fluorescence: solar-induced quenching corrections by use of concurrent downwelling irradiance measurements

Airborne laser-induced (and water Raman-normalized) spectral fluorescence emissions from oceanic chlorophyll were obtained during variable downwelling irradiance conditions induced by diurnal variability and patchy clouds. Chlorophyll fluorescence profiles along geographically repeated inbound and outbound flight track lines, separated in time by approximately 3-6 h and subject to overlying cloud movement, were found to be identical after corrections made with concurrent downwelling irradiance measurements. The corrections were accomplished by a mathematical model containing an exponential of the ratio of the instantaneous-to-average downwelling irradiance. Concurrent laser-induced phycoerythrin fluorescence and chromophoric dissolved organic matter fluorescence were found to be invariant to downwelling irradiance and thus, along with sea-surface temperature, established the near constancy of the oceanic surface layer during the experiment and validated the need for chlorophyll fluorescence quenching corrections over wide areas of the ocean.