Abstract
A drone-based system for monitoring of laser-induced fluorescence from the aquatic environment was constructed. Fixed-range remote-sensing demonstration measurements were performed, and field recordings of natural river water fluorescence, oil-slicks as well as dye-marked natural water volumes were taken at drone flying heights of about 10 m. Our fluorosensor, weighing only 1.5 kg, and carried by a commercial drone, illustrates how airborne remote sensing based on fluorescence can be made cost-effective and readily applicable, while presently only in ambient low-light-level conditions.
Highlights
Oil spills have caused worldwide attention because of major impact on marine ecosystems
We have described a compact and light-weight fluorosensor, which provides high-quality fluorescence spectra of the superficial aquatic layer featuring spectral signatures from oils, dissolved organic matter (DOM), algae, etc., and allowing internal calibration using the water Raman signal [27, 28]
To obtain range-resolved spectra of the upper few meters of the water overflown by the drone, a CW lidar system based on the Scheimpflug principle, as described for vegetation monitoring in our recent paper [26], could be adapted to aquatic applications, where many challenges regarding, e.g., the aquatic fauna are present [29]
Summary
Oil spills have caused worldwide attention because of major impact on marine ecosystems. Remote-sensing technologies have contributed much to the development of oil-spill detection [2, 3]. Even if an individual airborne lidar system can be applied over considerable ranges [14], it is bulky and not easy to operate This is much related to the fact, that pulsed lasers are customarily employed, leading to heavy and costly systems, even if recently lighter-weight solutions adaptable for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operation as analyzed in [20] seem feasible. Oil pollution discrimination by an inelastic hyperspectral Scheimpflug lidar system based on CW lasers was demonstrated in the laboratory [24] using a system which was similar to one previously used for range-resolved monitoring of algae and zooplankton in water [25]. Initial laboratory test measurements with the new fluorosensor, its deployment on a bridge crossing a river, as well as airborne monitoring of natural waters and contaminants using the drone are described
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