SLICER: Boreal Forest Canopy Lidar Waveforms

NASA's Scanning Lidar Imager of Canopies by Echo Recovery (SLICER) Level-3 data were collected for the BOREAS study. The dataset contains binary files for flight lines, with each laser shot record comprising 13 parameters and a 600-byte raw backscatter waveform. Data were acquired over 5 days in July 1996 at Tower Flux sites and transects in the BOREAS Southern and Northern Study Areas.

Use Cases

• Modeling forest canopy height and structure based on lidar waveform data.
• Analyzing topographic effects on vegetation using geospatial flight line data.
• Fusing lidar and hyperspectral data for ecosystem studies, as SLICER was acquired simultaneously with ASAS imagery.
• Calibrating or validating tower-based flux measurements with airborne canopy observations.

Strengths

• Data were collected as part of the major, well-documented BOREAS ecosystem-atmosphere study.
• Each laser shot record contains a detailed 600-byte raw waveform, providing the full backscatter signal.
• Coverage includes multiple flight lines (3-10) over each tower site, oriented in various azimuths for comprehensive sampling.

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is low; specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided.
• There is a conflict in 'last updated' metadata between platforms (1996 vs. 2026), casting doubt on provenance tracking.
• The data format is legacy binary, which may require specialized knowledge or tools to parse and analyze.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Airborne data acquisition using the SLICER instrument from flight lines.

Time Range

1996-07-18 to 1996-07-30

Freshness

1996-07-30 23:59:59.999000

Geography

BOREAS Southern and Northern Study Areas (SSA and NSA) and transects between them, focusing on Tower Flux sites.