Ecosystem studies using profiling polarization LiDAR

Airborne lidar has been demonstrated to be a useful tool to obtain horizontal distributions and vertical profiles of fish, zooplankton, and phytoplankton. Polarization filtering allows scattering from larger irregular particles like fish and plankton to be distinguished from the general background scattering. When combined with other observations, airborne lidar has been demonstrated to be a useful tool to investigate the effects of physical processes on the ecosystem and the interactions between different trophic levels.