Palmer, S. C. J., Pelevin, V. V., Goncharenko, I., Kovács, A. W., Zlinszky, A., Présing, M.
Despite a long contribution to oceanography, the use of fluorescence LiDAR in lakes is not routine. The potential of a ship-mounted, multispectral Ultraviolet Fluorescence LiDAR (UFL) to provide rapid, high-resolution data in variably turbid and productive lake conditions is investigated through laboratory tank and field measurements on Lake Balaton, Hungary. Calibrated against coinciding conventional samples, the UFL gives simultaneous estimates of three key parameters — chlorophyll a (0.01–378 mg·m⁻³; R = 0.83–0.92), total suspended matter (0.1–130 g·m⁻³; R = 0.90–0.96), and CDOM (aCDOM(440) 0.003–0.125; R = 0.80–0.97). Fluorescence emission at 685 nm shows distinct relationships with chlorophyll a for two cultured algae species, and the 650/685 nm emission ratio distinguishes them. This is the first known assessment of ship-mounted fluorescence LiDAR in freshwater lake conditions, demonstrating its use for water-quality parameters despite the complex hydro-optics of inland waters.