Airborne Scanning Lidar Measurement of Ocean Waves

Abstract

A scanning lidar system provides high-resolution, two-dimensional measurements of ocean wave displacement. The fact that it is an airborne operation further enhances the speed of data acquisition. These properties allow rapid characterization of the ocean wave environment. In addition to active ranging, the scanning optics can obtain passive measurements of surface emissivity, yielding a digital image of surface brightness in real time. Processed into a binary image, these measurements can provide information on the average statistics and the spatial distribution of breaking waves. Technical specifications of the system and examples of application are presented.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 09, 1999
Accession Number
ADA361208

Entities

People

  • Edward J. Walsh
  • Paul Hwang
  • Robert N. Swift
  • Wayne Wright
  • William B. Krabill

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Data Acquisition
  • Doppler Effect
  • Flight Speeds
  • Glaciers
  • Global Positioning Systems
  • Grids
  • Images
  • Information Science
  • Measurement
  • Ocean Waves
  • Range Finding
  • Research Facilities
  • Standards
  • Topography
  • Two Dimensional
  • Wave Propagation
  • Waves

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science
  • Physics

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science / Meteorology, specifically Wind Wave Turbulence.
  • Computer Science/Computer Engineering/Data Science/Digital Signal Processing.
  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers