Calibration of an airborne oceanographic lidar using ocean backscattering measurements from space

We used satellite measurements of the optical backscattering coefficient to calibrate the signal from an airborne oceanographic lidar. This technique provided the radiometric calibration for the lidar signal and a local estimate of the ratio of the particulate backscattering coefficient, bbp, to the volume scattering function at the scattering angle of 180°, βp(180). Results using an ordinary regression, a reduced major axis regression, and a least squares bisector suggest that either of the latter two provided a better result than an ordinary regression. The statistical errors in the two recommended regressions, the difference in calibrations factors between them, and the difference between these and a laboratory calibration were all less than 5%.