Commonly deployed measurement systems for water waves are intrusive and measure a limited number of parameters. This results in difficulties in inferring detailed sea state information while additionally subjecting the system to environmental loading. Optical techniques offer a non-intrusive alternative, yet documented systems suffer a range of problems related to usability and performance. Here, we present experimental data obtained from a 256 × 256 Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) detector array used to measure water waves in a laboratory facility. 12 regular wave conditions are used to assess performance. Picosecond resolution time-of-flight measurements are obtained, without the use of dye, over an area of the water surface and processed to provide surface elevation data. The SPAD detector array is installed 0.487 m above the water surface and synchronized with a pulsed laser source with a wavelength of 532 nm and mean power <1 mW. Through analysis of the experimental results, and with the aid of an optical model, we demonstrate good performance up to a limiting steepness value, ka, of 0.11. Through this preliminary proof-of-concept study, we highlight the capability for SPAD-based systems to measure water waves within a given field-of-view simultaneously, while raising potential solutions for improving performance.

通常部署的水波测量系统具有侵入性，并且测量的参数数量有限。这导致难以推断详细的海况信息，同时还使系统承受环境负荷。光学技术提供了一种非侵入性的替代方案，但记录在案的系统存在一系列与可用性和性能相关的问题。在这里，我们展示了从用于测量实验室设施中的水波的 256 × 256 单光子雪崩二极管 (SPAD) 探测器阵列获得的实验数据。使用 12 种常规波浪条件来评估性能。在不使用染料的情况下，在水面区域上获得皮秒分辨率的飞行时间测量值，并进行处理以提供表面高程数据。SPAD 探测器阵列安装为 0。水面以上 487 m，与波长为 532 nm 且平均功率 <1 mW 的脉冲激光源同步。通过对实验结果的分析，并借助光学模型，我们证明了在极限陡度值下的良好性能，ka，为 0.11。通过这项初步的概念验证研究，我们强调了基于 SPAD 的系统能够同时测量给定视野内的水波，同时提出提高性能的潜在解决方案。