Comparison of Satellite and Airborne LiDAR data
In this project, I created a workflow to compare GEDI and ICESat-2 against high-quality discrete-return LiDAR data for an area of interest. The area used for this analysis is a portion of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range near Lake Tahoe.
The main steps are to:
- download and subset ICESat-2 data for an area of interest
- create spatial geometries from ICESat-2 and GEDI data csv files
- this involved creating different geometries for the two instruments, because they have different pulse footprints
- extract corresponding discrete-return data for each geometry and calculate height metrics
- intersect geometries with forest group and forest cover layers and calculate summary values for each polygon
- plot the results
Datasets
Dubayah, R., Hofton, M., Blair, J., Armston, J., Tang, H., Luthcke, S. (2020). GEDI L2A Elevation and Height Metrics Data Global Footprint Level V001 [Data set]. NASA EOSDIS Land Processes DAAC. Accessed 2020-08-15 from https://doi.org/10.5067/GEDI/GEDI02_A.001
Neuenschwander, A. L., K. L. Pitts, B. P. Jelley, J. Robbins, B. Klotz, S. C. Popescu, R. F. Nelson, D. Harding, D. Pederson, and R. Sheridan. 2021. ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Land and Vegetation Height, Version 5. [Indicate subset used]. Boulder, Colorado USA. NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. doi: https://doi.org/10.5067/ATLAS/ATL08.005. [2020-08-15].
CA NoCAL Wildfires B1 2018: Discrete-Return LiDAR Data downloaded from USGS 3DEP LiDAR Explorer
B. Ruefenacht, M.V. Finco, M.D. Nelson, R. Czaplewski, et al. (2008). Conterminous U.S. and Alaska Forest Type Mapping Using Forest Inventory and Analysis Data. USDA Forest Service - Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program & Geospatial Technology and Applications Center (GTAC). Accessed 2020-08-20 from https://data.fs.usda.gov/geodata/rastergateway/forest_type/