Detection of Chlorophyll a and CDOM Absorption Coefficient with a Dual-Wavelength Oceanic Lidar: Wavelength Optimization Method

To overcome the retrieval problems in complex water, dual working wavelengths are required instead of a single wavelength in oceanic lidar. The wavelength optimization method of detecting chlorophyll a and Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) absorption coefficient with a dual-wavelength lidar is studied in this paper. The inversion methods of chlorophyll a and CDOM absorption are developed based on the water absorption characteristics, which then lead to the inversion error equations. The effects of the wavelength on the inversion errors are studied. For the case in which λ1 and λ2 are both random, the errors are relatively small when λ1 is chosen between 420 and 560 nm and λ2 is selected under 420 nm. For the case in which λ1 is fixed at 532 nm, the errors generally decrease with decreasing λ2, with minimums around 300 and 356–360 nm under different water conditions. The wavelength optimization method discussed in this paper and the penetration depth criterion will be beneficial to the design of the dual-wavelength lidar.