Lidar measurements of the diffuse attenuation coefficient in Yellowstone Lake

Abstract

Airborne lidar study of lake ecosystems is still a relatively unexplored field. In this paper we present measurements of the diffuse attenuation coefficient of downwelling irradiance ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>K</mml:mi> <mml:mi>d</mml:mi> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> ) obtained using a 532 nm airborne lidar in flights during 2004 and 2016 over Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. We compare the lidar measurements with MODIS <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>K</mml:mi> <mml:mi>d</mml:mi> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> data, discuss the impact that local weather and river inflows/outflows may have had on the data, compare to previous models of the diffuse attenuation coefficient, and examine several published relationships converting <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>K</mml:mi> <mml:mi>d</mml:mi> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> to Secchi disk depth.