NASA Goddard’s LiDAR, Hyperspectral and Thermal (G-LiHT) Airborne Imager

Abstract

Abstract:The combination of LiDAR and optical remotely sensed data provides unique information about ecosystem structure and function. Here, we describe the development, validation and application of a new airborne system that integrates commercial off the shelf LiDAR hyperspectral and thermal components in a compact, lightweight and portable system. Goddard's LiDAR, Hyperspectral and Thermal (G-LiHT) airborne imager is a unique system that permits simultaneous measurements of vegetation structure, foliar spectra and surface temperatures at very high spatial resolution (~1 m) on a wide range of airborne platforms. The complementary nature of LiDAR, optical and thermal data provide an analytical framework for the development of new algorithms to map plant species composition, plant functional types, biodiversity, biomass and carbon stocks, and plant growth. In addition, G-LiHT data enhance our ability to validate data from existing satellite missions and support NASA Earth Science research. G-LiHT's data processing and distribution system is designed to give scientists open access to both low-and high-level data products (http://gliht.gsfc.nasa.gov), which will stimulate the community development of synergistic data fusion algorithms. G-LiHT has been used to collect more than OPEN ACCESSRemote Sens. 2013, 5 4046 6,500 km 2 of data for NASA-sponsored studies across a broad range of ecoregions in the USA and Mexico. In this paper, we document G-LiHT design considerations, physical specifications, instrument performance and calibration and acquisition parameters. In addition, we describe the data processing system and higher-level data products that are freely distributed under NASA's Data and Information policy.

A National, Detailed Map of Forest Aboveground Carbon Stocks in Mexico

“…In the frame of the USAID funded Mexico-REDD+ project [97] airborne lidar transects are therefore currently (years 2013/14) being acquired in six critical forest areas across Mexico (Yucatan, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Michoacán, Jalisco, Chihuahua). Also, in April/May 2013, the AMIGA lidar campaign acquired transects of lidar data with the NASA G-LiHT sensor [98]. The lidar data will provide additional means to: (i) investigate forest structural and carbon stock differences related to disturbance and forest management; and (ii) improve AGCD mapping by extending field inventory data via lidar transects to wall-to-wall maps [20,39,40] using new spaceborne remote sensing datasets from the Landsat-8 optical or the soon to be launched ALOS-2 and SENTINEL-1 L-and C-band radar missions.…”

Deciphering the Precision of Stereo IKONOS Canopy Height Models for US Forests with G-LiHT Airborne LiDAR

“…It provides highly accurate and discrete foliage and canopy measurements. G-LiHT is a compact system that can be placed on most small aircraft, and has collected data over a diverse range of cover types and has undergone calibration/evaluation studies [11]. We used LiDAR data from the VQ-480 onboard G-LiHT.…”

“…A laser beam divergence of 0.3 mrad produces a 10 cm diameter footprint at the nominal operating altitude of 335 m. Data from our three study regions was collected leaf-on in the summers of 2011 and 2012 with identical flight parameters. Processed LiDAR data are available online [33], including classified returns and heights, and 1 m CHMs and DTMs. LiDAR returns were resampled and processed as ~7 km transect segments for efficient processing.…”

“…G-LiHT is a compilation of available off the shelf instrument components of LiDAR, imaging spectroscopy, and thermal instruments that when combined enables data fusion [11]. It provides highly accurate and discrete foliage and canopy measurements.…”

“…We evaluated two existing stereo forest canopy height model (CHM) approaches, one without ground control points (GCPs) and one with GCPs as others have shown substantial improvement in IKONOS mapping accuracy with GCPs [7,8]. We used IKONOS Geo stereo imagery and build upon prior methodologies developed in Quebec [9,10] and compared results against an airborne instrument, Goddard's LiDAR, Hyperspectral and Thermal Imager (G-LiHT) [11]. We analyzed the precision of IKONOS Geo stereo data with G-LiHT acting as truth, and estimated costs to complete surveys per hectare.…”