Description
The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission aims to characterize ecosystem structure and dynamics to enable radically improved quantification and understanding of the Earth’s carbon cycle and biodiversity. The GEDI instrument produces high resolution laser ranging observations of the 3-dimensional structure of the Earth. GEDI is attached to the International Space Station (ISS) and collects data globally between 51.6° N and 51.6° S latitudes at the highest resolution and densest sampling of any light detection and ranging (lidar) instrument in orbit to date. Each GEDI Version 2 granule encompasses one-fourth of an ISS orbit and includes georeferenced metadata to allow for spatial querying and subsetting.
The purpose of the GEDI Level 2A Geolocated Elevation and Height Metrics product (GEDI02_A) is to provide waveform interpretation and extracted products from each GEDI01_B received waveform, including ground elevation, canopy top height, and relative height (RH) metrics. The methodology for generating the GEDI02_A product datasets is adapted from the Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor (LVIS) algorithm. The GEDI02_A product is provided in HDF5 format and has a spatial resolution (average footprint) of 25 meters.
The GEDI02_A data product contains 156 layers for each of the eight beams, including ground elevation, canopy top height, relative return energy metrics (e.g., canopy vertical structure), and many other interpreted products from the return waveforms. Additional information for the layers can be found in the GEDI Level 2A Dictionary.
Improvements for Version 2
* Metadata has been updated to include spatial coordinates.
* Granule size has been reduced from one full ISS orbit (~5.8 GB) to four segments per orbit (~1.5 GB).
* Filename has been updated to include segment number and version number.
* Improved Geolocation.
* Added elevation from the SRTM digital elevation model for comparison.
* Modified the method to predict an optimum algorithm setting group per laser shot.
* Added additional land cover datasets related to phenology, urban infrastructure, and water persistence.
* Added selected_mode_flag dataset to root beam group using selected algorithm.
* Removed shots when the laser is not firing.
* Modified file name.
Resources
| Name | Format | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get a related visualization | HTML | Browse image for Earthdata Search | Open resource |
| View this dataset's algorithm theoretical basis document | HTML | The Waveform Processing ATBD provides physical theory and mathematical procedures for the calculations used to produce the data products. | Open resource |
| View this dataset's algorithm theoretical basis document | HTML | The Geolocation ATBD provides physical theory and mathematical procedures for the calculations used to produce the data products. | Open resource |
| This dataset's landing page | HTML | The product page provides information on Science Data Set layers and links for user guides, ATBDs, data access, tools, customer support, etc. | Open resource |
| Download this dataset | HTML | LP DAAC Data Pool provides direct access to available products via HTTPS. | Open resource |
| The dataset's project home page | HTML | The GEDI website provides detailed information on the GEDI mission, instrument, science, applications, and data. | Open resource |
| View this dataset's how-to documentation | HTML | Spatial Querying of GEDI Version 2 Data in Python | Open resource |
| View this dataset's how-to documentation | HTML | Spatial Querying of GEDI Version 2 Data in R | Open resource |
| View this dataset's how-to documentation | HTML | GEDI Spatial and Band/Layer Subsetting and Export to GeoJSON Script | Open resource |
| View this dataset's how-to documentation | HTML | The GEDI Data Resources repository provides guides, short how-tos, and tutorials to help users access and work with data from the GEDI mission. | Open resource |
| The dataset's project home page | HTML | The LP DAAC website provides detailed information on discovery, distribution, access, and support of land data products. | Open resource |
| View documentation related to this dataset | HTML | The data dictionary provides additional information on the Science Dataset (SDS) layers. | Open resource |
| View this dataset's how-to documentation | GEDI Spatial Querying and Subsetting Quick Guide | Open resource | |
| View this dataset's how-to documentation | The technical information in the User's Guide enables users to interpret and use the data products. | Open resource | |
| View this dataset's how-to documentation | HTML | GEDI L1-L2 Data Resources, Access, and Visualization Demo | Open resource |
| Google Scholar search results | HTML | Search results for publications that cite this dataset by its DOI. | Open resource |
| Download this dataset | HTML | Earthdata Search allows users to search, discover, visualize, refine, and access NASA Earth Observation data. | Open resource |