Multi-Functional Lidar Measurements to Identify and Characterize Marine Debris using Time-Resolved Fluorescence

Current remote sensing systems are not optimized to monitor the exponential increase of marine debris pollution, nor quantify its impact to ocean health. While passive imaging spectrometers with near infrared (NIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands provide some limited utility in identifying debris floating on the surface, most debris is submerged and these systems cannot "see" below the water's surface. Building on the near/below surface studies of phytoplankton using CALIPSO, we propose to investigate the capability of a fluorescent lidar system, to both identify and characterize near-surface and submerged marine debris. Our goal is to characterize the laser induced fluorescence (LIF) return of marine debris both in the spectral and time domain. We will include measurements from naturally occurring targets, such as phytoplankton, to demonstrate sufficient differentiation in aquatic scenes between biogenic and anthropogenic material. Time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) will provide a measure of fluorescence lifetime of the various targets. After having success measuring fluorescence spectra and fluorescence lifetime independently, we propose to expand upon this research to feed into this study. The laboratory measurements will consist of a tunable pulsed laser as the excitation source, a photon-sensitive fast detector, and spectral filters tuned to the target's peak emission wavelength. To ensure high probability of classification, machine learning algorithms will be developed and tested. The results of this study will define the sensitivity of the fluorescence return for future performance modeling necessary for developing an effective space-based lidar system. Ultimately, this will inform a mission architecture to achieve global coverage for marine debris identification, characterization, and monitoring. Our team includes leading lidar technologists from both industry and NASA and research and application scientists from Academia and NOAA, all focused on addressing the marine debris problem. The PI and technology team are from Ball Aerospace, with participation from NASA LARC. Research and applications support is provided by collaborators from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (material experts studying the change in plastic characteristics as they decay in the ocean) and NOAA (application scientists who target and remove marine debris).

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