Venice Lagoon monitoring by a fluorescence lidar

The Venice Lagoon is a particular environment where a coastal lagoon hosts the town of Venice, industries, and a large traffic harbour. Tidal movements provide the main water exchange between the lagoon and the open sea. In this situation a continuous monitoring of the water quality is necessary to control pollution phenomena, which sometimes reach dramatic levels, like sudden algal blooms. A fluorescence lidar was installed aboard a CNR lagoon-boat, to perform remote fluorescence measurements together with traditional monitoring and in situ sampling all through the Venice Lagoon. In addition, a continuous monitoring at a fixed station in the central part of the Venice town (Canal Grande) was carried out during a tidal phase. Water turbidity, dissolved organic matter, and pigment content were inferred from the lidar spectra. Turbidity was compared with in situ measurements, showing a good agreement. The last part of the experiment deals with the airborne lidar monitoring of this particular site, during which significant results have been obtained