The Uncertainty of ALB Measurements Within the Water Column
Airborne LIDAR bathymetry (ALB) is a laser remote sensing technology for mapping the coastal zone. The mapping product from the ALB system is a point cloud of laser measurements representing the seafloor. The location and depth of each laser measurement is given with respect to a geographic frame of reference. In an effort to understand the value of lidar-derived data for a number of hydrographic applications, this study’s focus is on the uncertainties associated with ALB measurements. Most critical are the horizontal and vertical uncertainties of the laser pulse due to scattering through the water column. To address this issue, a lidar simulator was constructed for conducting a quantitative evaluation on the contributions from hardware and environmental factors. In this presentation, the lidar simulator system will be reviewed and future steps for the study outlined.
Amaresh M. V. Kumar is an Electric Engineering Ph.D. student at the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping (CCOM) at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). Amaresh has received two Master’s degrees, the first from Sathya Sai University, India in nuclear and particle physics, and the second from UNH in physics. He has also worked in many other fields of physics. Prior research has includes the development of a variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometer for the measurement of optical properties of thin films and the development of simulations for a scanning sky monitor module, x-ray detector module and CZTI imaging detector module for an ASTROSAT mission. He has also been part of a theoretical study on ring resonators in a mesoscopic regime: "Effect of magnetic flux and of electron momentum on the transmission amplitude in the Aharonov-Bohm ring" (2005).