Airborne lidar experiments at the Savannah River Plant

The results of remote sensing experiments at the Department of Energy (DOE) Savannah River Nuclear Facility utilizing the NASA Airborne Oceanographic Lidar (AOL) are presented. The flights were conducted in support of the numerous environmental monitoring requirements associated with the operation of the facility and for the purpose of furthering research and development of airborne lidar technology. Areas of application include airborne laser topographic mapping, hydrologic studies using fluorescent tracer dye, timber volume estimation, baseline characterization of wetlands, and aquatic chlorophyll and photopigment measurements. Conclusions relative to the usability of airborne lidar technology for the DOE for each of these remote sensing applications are discussed.