GEDI L3: Global 1 km Gridded Canopy Height and Ground Elevation Metrics

Global 1 km x 1 km gridded data on mean canopy height, ground elevation, and their standard deviations, collected by NASA's GEDI instrument between -52 and 52 degrees latitude. The dataset is produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and was last updated in March 2026. This first release provides simple averages and standard deviations of laser footprint metrics within each grid cell.

Use Cases

• Characterizing carbon and water cycling processes based on canopy height and ground elevation metrics.
• Supporting forest management and habitat assessment based on gridded canopy structure data.
• Aiding climate modeling and snow/glacier monitoring based on terrain elevation data.
• Generating digital elevation models based on the standard deviation of ground elevation.

Strengths

• Provides global coverage within -52 and 52 degrees latitude.
• Data is gridded at a consistent 1 km x 1 km spatial resolution.
• Includes multiple derived metrics: mean and standard deviation for both canopy height and ground elevation.
• Produced by the authoritative source National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The current version uses simple averaging; future versions will use optimal interpolation for improved estimates.
• Row count and total dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Gridded averages and standard deviations of laser footprint profile metrics from the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) instrument.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:23:11.726715; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global within -52 and 52 degrees latitude.