LIDAR FLUORESCENCE TECHNIQUE APPLICATION FOR STUDYING HYDRODYNAMIC PROCESSES

Large scale limnological applications of an active optical remote sens ing technique are described. An airborne Nd:YAG laser with frequency d oubling and tripling facilities is used. Algorithms for inferring conc entrations in phytoplankton chlorophyll (CHL) and dissolved organic ma tter (DOM) are developed for inland water bodies. Through the analysis of specific features of retrieved 2-D distributions of CHL and DOM, i t is possible to characterize the surficial manifestations of various fundamental thermohydrodynamic phenomena in lakes and water storage re servoirs such as upwellings, cores, stream patterns, etc.