Estimation of Radiant Energy of the Lidar Intended for Revealing Oil Films on the Sea Surface

Influence of sea conditions, lidar parameters, and the lidar axis vertical misalignment on revealing oil films on the sea surface is studied. In case of oblique monostatic sounding an analytical expression is derived for the minimum lidar output energy, required to detect the sea echo with the specified minimum acceptable S/N. Calculation results of the angular dependence of the minimum lidar output energy for different near-sea wind speeds and atmospheric conditions are presented in the near IR-range. With the lidar optical axis deviating from nadir, the minimum lidar output energy, necessary for the sea-echo detection, is shown to increase. The lidar pulse energy of 0.2 J allows the sea-echo to be registered for the S/N value no worse than 10 within the wide span of near-sea wind speeds and optical conditions of the atmosphere.