Characterizing laser radar snow reflection for the wavelengths 0.9 and 1.5 micrometer

Hakan Larsson; Ove Steinvall; Tomas Chevalier; Frank Gustafsson; Asa Persson; Pierre Andersson

doi:10.1117/12.603573

19 May 2005 Characterizing laser radar snow reflection for the wavelengths 0.9 and 1.5 μ

Hakan Larsson, Ove Steinvall, Tomas Chevalier, Frank Gustafsson, Asa Persson, Pierre Andersson

Proceedings Volume 5791, Laser Radar Technology and Applications X; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.603573
Event: Defense and Security, 2005, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

This paper will describe measurements of snow reflection using laser radar. There seems to be a rather limited number of publications on snow reflection related to laser radar, which is why we decided to investigate a little more details of snow reflection including that from different kinds of snow as well as the angular reflection properties. We will discuss reflectance information obtained by two commercial scanning laser radars using the wavelengths 0.9 μm and 1.5 μm. Data will mainly be presented at the eye safe wavelength 1.5 μm but some measurements were also performed for the wavelength 0.9 μm. We have measured snow reflection during a part of a winter season which gave us opportunities to investigate different types of snow and different meteorological conditions. The reflection values tend to decrease during the first couple of hours after a snowfall. The snow structure seems to be more important for the reflection than the snow age. In general the snow reflection at 1.5 μm is rather low and the reflectivity values can vary between 0.5 and 10 % for oblique incidence depending on snow structure which in turn depends on age, air temperature, humidity etc. The snow reflectivity at the 0.9 μm laser wavelength is much higher, more than 50 % for fresh snow. Images of snow covered scenes will be shown together with reflection data including BRDFs.

Citation Download Citation

Hakan Larsson, Ove Steinvall, Tomas Chevalier, Frank Gustafsson, Asa Persson, and Pierre Andersson "Characterizing laser radar snow reflection for the wavelengths 0.9 and 1.5 μ", Proc. SPIE 5791, Laser Radar Technology and Applications X, (19 May 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.603573

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