Oceanic inherent optical properties: proposed single laser lidar and retrieval theory.

It is suggested that an economical airborne lidar having a single laser can retrieve the three principal inherent optical properties of the ocean. Only three time-resolved backscattering receiver channels are required: (i) elastic (on-wavelength), (ii) inelastic (water Raman), and (iii) inelastic [chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) fluorescence channel to remove the CDOM fluorescence interference from the Raman channel].