HR: 09:05h
AN: B21E-05    [Abstracts]
TI: Full-waveform, Laser Altimeter Measurements of Vegetation Vertical Structure and Sub-Canopy Topography in Support of the North American Carbon Program
AU: * Blair, B
EM: James.B.Blair@nasa.gov
AF: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Laser Remote Sensing Branch, Code 924, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: Hofton, M
EM: mhofton@geog.umd.edu
AF: University of Maryland, Department of Geography, College Park, MD 20742 United States
AU: Rabine, D
EM: david@ltpmail.gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: Science Systems and Applications, Inc., 10210 Greenbelt Rd., Lanham, MD 20706 United States
AU: Padden, P
EM: ppadden@cornfed.gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: Science Systems and Applications, Inc., 10210 Greenbelt Rd., Lanham, MD 20706 United States
AU: Rhoads, J
EM: jrhoads@geog.umd.edu
AF: University of Maryland, Department of Geography, College Park, MD 20742 United States
AB: Full-waveform, scanning laser altimeters (i.e. lidar) provide a unique and precise view of the vertical and horizontal structure of vegetation across wide swaths. These unique laser altimeters systems are able to simultaneously image sub-canopy topography and the vertical structure of any overlying vegetation. These data reveal the true 3-D distribution of vegetation in leaf-on conditions enabling important biophysical parameters such as canopy height and aboveground biomass to be estimated with unprecedented accuracy. An airborne lidar mission was conducted in the summer of 2003 in support of preliminary studies for the North America Carbon Program. NASA's Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS) was used to image approximately 2,000 km$^2$ in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maryland. Areas with available ground and other data were included (e.g., experimental forests, FLUXNET sites) in order to facilitate numerous bio- and geophysical investigations. Data collected included ground elevation and canopy height measurements for each laser footprint, as well as the vertical distribution of intercepted surfaces (i.e. the return waveform). Data are currently available at the LVIS website (http://lvis.gsfc.nasa.gov/). Further details of the mission, including the lidar system technology, the locations of the mapped areas, and examples of the numerous data products that can be derived from the return waveform data products are available on the website and will be presented. Future applications including potential fusion with other remote sensing data sets and a spaceborne implementation of wide-swath, full-waveform imaging lidar will also be discussed.
UR: http://lvis.gsfc.nasa.gov/
DE: 9350 North America
DE: 1694 Instruments and techniques
DE: 1640 Remote sensing
DE: 0400 Biogeosciences
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting