G-LiHT Digital Terrain Model: LiDAR-Derived Bare Earth Elevation at 1-Meter Resolution

G-LiHT's Digital Terrain Model (GLDTMT) provides LiDAR-derived bare earth elevation, aspect, and slope data on the EGM96 Geopotential Model. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center began collecting this data over locally-defined areas in 2011, with coverage across the Conterminous United States, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. The data is processed as a raster GeoTIFF at a nominal 1-meter spatial resolution.

Use Cases

• Modeling hydrological flow and watershed delineation based on bare earth elevation and slope.
• Analyzing forest structure and biomass by integrating terrain data with other G-LiHT sensor outputs.
• Creating high-resolution base maps for ecological research based on the 1-meter spatial resolution.
• Studying terrain characteristics like aspect for solar radiation modeling in diverse forest communities.

Strengths

• Data is collected by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, a authoritative source.
• Provides a nominal 1-meter spatial resolution for high-detail analysis.
• Covers a broad diversity of forest communities and ecoregions across North America.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data collection is over locally-defined areas, not providing continuous continental coverage.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Goddard Space Flight Center

Collection Method

Collected via the portable, airborne G-LiHT (Goddard’s LiDAR, Hyperspectral, and Thermal Imager) system.

Time Range

Collection began in 2011 and is ongoing.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:43:04.683305; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Conterminous United States (CONUS), Alaska, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.