LVIS Lidar Data Releases Overlay for Google Earth

A Google Earth overlay file marks the center points of all publicly released data from the Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS) instrument. The overlay, created by the LVIS team, provides interactive links to GMT-generated imagery and raw data files. This resource was published by NASA/GSFC/LVIS and summarized by SCIOPS, with a last updated date recorded as 2005-01-01.

Use Cases

• Visualize spatial distribution of LVIS data release areas using the KML overlay's center point icons.
• Access raw LVIS lidar data files via the description balloon links associated with each release area icon.
• Enable or disable elevation and canopy height image layers loaded into Google Earth's Temporary Folders for visual analysis.

Strengths

• Provides a direct visual index for all released LVIS data collections via a single KML file.
• Includes interactive links from each data point to both processed GMT overlays and the underlying raw data.

Limitations

• The dataset's metadata indicates it was last updated in 2005, making it potentially stale for recent data releases.
• No information is provided on the number of data release areas, file sizes, or specific geographic coverage.

Provenance

Source

NASA/GSFC/LVIS team, summarized by SCIOPS.

Collection Method

Generated from released LVIS data collections; method for creating the KML overlay is unspecified.

Freshness

Last updated date is 2005-01-01.

Geography

Covers locations of all released LVIS data; specific regions are not detailed.