Oil Film Detection and Characterization by Lidar Fluorosensors

The use of lidar fluorosensors in the detection of oil films over the water surface is well known and laboratory and field experiments were done by different authors in the past years. A systematic analysis of fluorosensor performances in detection and characterization of oil films was carried out as a part of the IROE program of environmental remote sensing. The investigation concerned the definition of the best laser wavelengths, the measurement of film thickness, the identification of the minimum detectable film thickness, the identification of the oil which composes the film. The results of this analysis were the base of the development of IROE FLIDAR-2 hardware and software.