A sub-space method for high resolution bathymetry

To increase the accuracy and the rate of coverage of a given area in shallow coastal waters, light-detection and ranging (lidar) airborne laser ranging systems have been introduced. A new formulation for ocean-depth measurement using the frequency-domain approach as proposed. This technique uses a high-resolution eigensubspace method to estimate the ocean-depth from backscattered noisy data. The problem is addressed for complex attenuation coefficients by utilizing a double eigenstructure decomposition procedure on a Hankel matrix structure. The approach is similar to obtaining the best rational approximation that fits the actual measured data in a least-square sense.