POSTER SESSION 2
10:30–12:30, Tuesday, September 15
Poster Session | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Schedule at a Glance
ABSTRACT 1318 | POSTER 110
OFFSHORE VALIDATION OF PHOTON COUNTING RAMAN LIDAR FOR DEPTH-RESOLVED OCEAN TEMPERATURE PROFILING
Remote measurement of subsurface ocean temperature remains a major gap in ocean observing. Satellite radiometry provides broad coverage of sea surface temperature, but depth resolved profiles still rely on in situ probes, limiting spatial and temporal sampling. Raman LiDAR can retrieve temperature profiles by exploiting the temperature dependence of the OH stretching Raman band of water. However, field translation has been limited by weak Raman signals, differential absorption between spectral channels, fluorescence from dissolved and particulate matter, and the difficulty of deploying laser sources at sea.
We have developed a compact photon counting Raman LiDAR using blue GaN laser diode excitation and single photon detection. Building on laboratory depth resolved thermometry and pool scale measurements over tens of metres, the system has been tested from a small vessel in coastal waters off Sydney. Its architecture uses multiplexed diode excitation, photon counting and concurrent elastic, Raman and fluorescence detection to improve retrieval robustness while preserving the efficiency, wavelength flexibility and high repetition rate operation of diode sources.
Here we report the offshore deployment of this system from the CSIRO research vessel RV Investigator in 2026. The voyage will depart from Brisbane and sample subtropical to tropical waters across coastal, shelf and open ocean environments. LiDAR measurements will be validated against depth resolved in situ temperature, optical and radiometric measurements. We will present initial offshore validation results, including comparisons with high precision in situ thermometry and assessment of signal levels, retrieval stability and operational constraints across coastal and open ocean conditions.
Ondrej Kitzler, Macquarie University, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0252-2297
Helen Pask, Macquarie University, [email protected]
David Spence, Macquarie University, [email protected]
James Downes, Macquarie University, [email protected]
Zixuan Li, Macquarie University, [email protected]
Carolyn Taylor, Macquarie University, [email protected]
David Antoine, Curtin University, [email protected]
Ameera Jose, Macquarie University, [email protected]
David Coutts, Macquarie University, [email protected]
Poster Session | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Schedule at a Glance
