Development of a model for strict handling of refraction in airborne lidar bathymetry

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Hans-Gerd Maas
• Subject Area: Geodesy, Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, Geoinformatics, Cartography
• Term: from 2014 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 259122201

Airborne lidar bathymetry is a technique for the determination of the underwater topography of shallow water areas in waterbodies with low turbidity. It is recently gaining much attention both due to new sensor developments allowing for a much higher spatial resolution in scanning riverbeds and due to new EU regulations requiring hydrographic measurements in waterbodies at regular time intervals.Geometric modeling in airborne lidar bathymetry is more complex than in conventional laser scanning due to the necessity of modeling refraction effects of the laser pulse passing the air-water interface and due to an increased dispersion of the pulse under water. Recent high resolution lidar bathymetry systems require new concepts of geometric modeling, as the effects of waves on the water surface cannot be neglected anymore when modeling refraction. The goal of the proposal is to develop a strict geometric-stochastic model for considering wave effects in lidar bathymetry data processing on the basis of spatio-temporal parameterized water surface models, which allow for a differential modeling of the refracted laser pulse path. As a result, the model will deliver an improved correction of refraction effects and thus a better accuracy in airborne lidar bathymetry.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants