In October 2025 LIFeLiDAR brought its full instrument suite to the Venice lagoon for the first marine field tests of the system, as part of the European Space Agency’s PHY2FLEX campaign. Over three days (7–9 October) the LIFL-11 multi-wavelength LIF LiDAR, the compact MFL-12, and the passive mHR-2 radiometer were operated together in real sea conditions, with vessel support from Italy’s Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR).
The campaign confirmed the performance and robustness of all three instruments outside the laboratory. The mHR-2 captured above-water remote-sensing reflectance (Rrs) spectra — the same quantity ocean-colour satellites estimate — with example spectra recorded on 8 October, while the active LIF sensors measured in-water constituents at the same place and time. Paired active and passive measurements of this kind are the building blocks of satellite cal/val match-ups.