Comparison of three airborne laser bathymetry data sets for monitoring the German Baltic Sea Coast

Airborne laser bathymetry (ALB) can be used for hydrographic surveying with relative high resolution in shallow water. In this paper, we examine the applicability of this technique based on three flight campaigns. These were conducted between 2012 and 2014 close to the island of Poel in the German Baltic Sea. The first data set was acquired by a Riegl VQ-820-G sensor in November 2012. The second and third data sets were acquired by a Chiroptera sensor of Airborne Hydrography AB in September 2013 and May 2014, respectively. We examine the 3D points classified as seabed under different conditions during data acquisition, e.g. the turbidity level of the water and the flight altitude. The analysis comprises the point distribution, point density, and the area coverage in several depth levels. In addition, we determine the vertical accuracy of the 3D seabed points by computing differences to echo sounding data. Finally, the results of the three flight campaigns are compared to each other and analyzed with respect to the different conditions during data acquisition. For each campaign only small differences in elevation between the laser and the echo sounding data set are observed. The ALB results satisfy the requirements of IHO Standards for Hydrographic Surveys (S-44) Order 1b for several depth intervals. © 2015 SPIE