Abstract

The fluorescence lidar technique is one of the most promising for the remote sensing of oil spills on the sea and other natural waters. The purpose of this paper is the evaluation of the potential of different laser wavelengths in this application. Since the most used wavelength is the 3371 Å line of the N₂ laser this one was compared with two shorter wavelengths of excimer lasers, KrF (2495 Å) and XeCl (3080 Å), and with a longer wavelength of a dye laser, Stilben-3 (4200 Å). Particular attention was given to the capability of detecting very-low-thickness oil films.