Bubble detection and characterization via Lidar

A method comprising:

• receiving, by a computing device, lidar data, the lidar data being associated with remote sensing of moving water;
• calibrating, by the computing device, the lidar data, the calibration being based on one or more measurements contemporaneously measured with remote sensing of the moving water;
• refining, by the computing device, the calibrated lidar data, the refinement being based on bubble detection associated with the moving water, wherein the refining comprises discriminating between one or more signals associated with the bubble detection and one or more signals associated with non-bubble background detection;
• determining, from the refined lidar data and by the computing device, a bubble mask via feature detection based on depolarization ratio;
• and
• determining, based on the bubble mask and by the computing device, one or more bubble characteristics associated with the moving water.