GEDI L4B Version 2 provides 1 km x 1 km gridded estimates of mean aboveground biomass density (AGBD) for Earth's land surface. The dataset is produced by NASA's Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation mission, with data collected from mission week 19 in April 2019 to mission week 138 in August 2021. It is distributed by the ORNL_CLOUD organization.
Use Cases
- Estimate total forest carbon stocks by aggregating the mean AGBD values across regional or national extents.
- Validate terrestrial biosphere models by comparing their predicted biomass against the gridded AGBD estimates.
- Analyze spatial patterns of biomass density using the 1 km resolution grid to identify areas of high carbon storage or deforestation.
- Assess uncertainty in biomass maps by incorporating the provided standard error of the mean for each grid cell.
Strengths
- Global spatial coverage of Earth's land surface at a consistent 1 km resolution.
- Data collection spans over two years from April 2019 to August 2021, providing a temporal snapshot.
Limitations
- Data collection ended in August 2021, limiting analysis of recent forest changes or disturbances.
- Biomass estimates are derived from a sampling approach (GEDI footprints) within each 1 km cell, not wall-to-wall observation, introducing sampling error.
Provenance
- Source
- NASA Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission, distributed by ORNL_CLOUD.
- Collection Method
- Statistical inference of mean aboveground biomass density from GEDI L4A footprint predictions within each 1 km grid cell, as described in the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document.
- Time Range
- 2019-04-18 to 2021-08-04
- Freshness
- Data collection ended on 2021-08-04; no update frequency specified.
- Geography
- Global land surface.