AIRBORNE LIDAR SENSING OF THE DEPTH PROFILE OF PHYTOPLANKTON CONCENTRATION IN SEA WATER CONSIDERING THE SURFACE CHLOROPHYLL FLUORESCENCE INTENSITY

The method of airborne lidar sensing of the depth profile of phytoplankton concentration in sea water is proposed. The chlorophyll fluorescence is excited by green radiation of the laser and is recorded by the red photodetector channel. Based on the available correlation relations, the fluorescence intensity is recalculated in the scattering coefficient of the green lidar return signal and in the phytoplankton concentration. Then the inverse problem of reconstruction of the depth profile of phytoplankton concentration is solved for the green lidar return signal.