Features of airborne lidar surveys in clear ocean waters using Coastal Zone Mapping and Imaging Lidar (CZMIL)

Based on the processing of CZMIL data collected in Hawaii during a JALBTCX mission (2013) and in the Pacific for The Ocean Cleanup project (October, 2016), we demonstrate the possibility of reliably estimating the seawater column’s optical properties from lidar waveforms in deep clear (Jerlov class I and IB) waters. With minor improvements to the data processing method previously applied to Florida survey data (2003, 2006, 2012–2017), we estimate the diffuse attenuation coefficient at the wavelength of 532 nm, Kd (532), to be 0.045–0.060 m-1 in both regions. The results are in good agreement with space satellite data for the days of the lidar surveys and with Jerlov’s Kd curves for water classes I and IB.