Maxime Elbaz
President
Optech, Inc.
United States

Biography
Based in Rochester, New York, Max oversees all operations at Optech, Inc., the U.S. wholly owned subsidiary of Optech, including the development and production of bathymetry systems in Kiln, MS, camera engineering and low-volume manufacturing in Rochester, NY, and on-site client support. Additionally Max is also Corporate Vice President of Marketing, responsible for Optech’s worldwide marketing strategy as well as marine and military sales. Previously, Max gained over 20 years of executive management experience at various companies, including companies focusing on 3D imaging and geospatial surveying. Max joined Optech in 2011 when Optech acquired Geospatial Systems, Inc., where he was Chairman, President and CEO.

Abstract
The Challenge of Water Turbidity and Airborne Bathymetric Lidar Systems: The Optech Turbid Water Solution

As lidar technology matures, cutting-edge systems are capable of more advanced functions, while simplified and cost-effective systems become more reliable and less expensive. Lidar bathymetry in particular has seen rapid advancement. Up until now, lidar systems have had difficulty penetrating all but the clearest waters. In turbid water, the signal is attenuated quickly and stretched, making the data production rate and accuracy unreliable. Since much of the world’s civilized coastal areas are highly turbid, this has limited lidar’s real-world utility. This presentation will discuss several breakthroughs in receiver sensitivity, pulse width, pulse power, and shallow turbid-water detection algorithms incorporated into Optech’s state-of-the-art airborne bathymetry system CZMIL (Coastal Zone Mapping and Imaging Lidar) that defeat this problem and open up entirely new applications for lidar bathymetry.