GEDI L2A: Global Lidar Footprints for Elevation and Canopy Metrics

The GEDI instrument collected data from 2019 to 2023, with a hibernation period from March 17, 2023, to April 24, 2024, before resuming operations on April 26, 2024. It provides high-resolution laser ranging observations of Earth's 3D structure from the International Space Station, covering latitudes between 51.6° N and 51.6° S. The Level 2A product contains 156 layers per beam, including ground elevation, canopy top height, and relative height metrics derived from waveform data.

Use Cases

• Estimating forest biomass and carbon stocks based on canopy height and structure metrics
• Mapping ground topography and terrain elevation from lidar ground elevation data
• Analyzing canopy vertical structure and complexity using relative return energy metrics
• Monitoring changes in ecosystem structure over time across global tropical and temperate forests

Strengths

• Provides the highest resolution and densest sampling of any orbital lidar instrument
• Contains 156 interpreted data layers per beam for detailed structural analysis
• Has a consistent spatial resolution (average footprint) of 25 meters

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is low; column names and dataset size are unknown across all sources
• Data acquisition was suspended for known gaps, including from December 19, 2019 to January 8, 2020
• License information conflicts between sources (CC-BY-4.0 vs. 'other-license-specified')

Provenance

Source

Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission, instrument on the International Space Station

Collection Method

High-resolution laser ranging (lidar) observations, with data processing adapted from the Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor (LVIS) algorithm

Time Range

2019 to present, with a hibernation period from March 2023 to April 2024

Freshness

2026-04-10 03:13:14.617950

Geography

Global coverage between 51.6° N and 51.6° S latitudes