Laser remote sensing of water, soil, and vegetation

The data on laboratory and field test of the versatile lidar based on a pulsed Nd:YAG laser for ecological monitoring of water bodies, ground vegetation, and soil are presented. The lidar was designed at the Wave Research of Russian Academy of Sciences. We report on the result of some experiments of 1997 and 1998, performed in Brazil. In particular, simultaneous measurement of soil, ground vegetation, and seawater fluorescence exited by the third laser harmonic at 355 nm has demonstrated the main spectral features of these objects. The new procedure of spectral processing gives us an opportunity to compare the vertical profiles of organic content in soil different Brazilian regions. The study has also shown the florescence characteristics of seawater samples kept inside a sealed box at fixed temperature to change dramatically during about two hours, which indicates the importance of water remote sensing in situ in comparison to the conventional microbiological analysis in vivo.© (2000) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.