Development of a single-wavelength airborne bathymetric LiDAR: System design and data processing

Airborne laser bathymetry (ALB) is employed to measure shallow depth water by using a high sampling rate and point density. Thus, the problems of using traditional detection methods in inaccessible areas can be avoided. This study focuses on practical solutions for receiving echo signals, identifying target echoes, and integrating land and underwater terrain point cloud data in coastal environments. Optimization of the system design and its data processing scheme is undertaken to improve the performance of the receiving system based on a single-band ALB system developed by the authors at Shenzhen University. A flight experiment over eastern Hainan Island was conducted, during which the effectiveness of the proposed strategy was verified. Finally, the technical characteristics of the self-developed system are summarized to provide a reliable reference source for the subsequent industrialization and production of related marine light detection and ranging (LiDAR) laser systems.