G-LiHT: Goddard’s LiDAR, Hyperspectral, and Thermal airborne imager

Bruce Cook, NASA GSFC, bruce.cook@nasa.gov (Presenter)
Lawrence A Corp, SSAI, lawrence.a.corp@nasa.gov
Hank A. Margolis, Laval University, hank.margolis@sbf.ulaval.ca
Jeffrey Masek, NASA GSFC, jeffrey.g.masek@nasa.gov
Elizabeth M. Middleton, NASA GSFC, elizabeth.m.middleton@nasa.gov
Paul Montesano, NASA/SSAI, paul.m.montesano@nasa.gov
Douglas Morton, NASA GSFC, douglas.morton@nasa.gov
Ross Nelson, NASA GSFC, ross.f.nelson@nasa.gov
Kenneth Jon Ranson, NASA GSFC, kenneth.j.ranson@nasa.gov
Jacqueline Rosette, UMBC /NASA GSFC, jacqueline.rosette@nasa.gov
Guoqing Sun, NASA GSFC/UMD, guoqing.sun@nasa.gov
Kurtis John Thome, NASA GSFC, kurtis.thome@nasa.gov

Scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center have developed an ultra-portable, low-cost, multi-sensor remote sensing system for studying the form and function of terrestrial ecosystems. G-LiHT integrates two LIDARs, a 905 nm single beam profiler and 1550 nm scanner, with a narrowband (1.3 nm) VNIR imaging spectrometer and a broadband (8-14 µm) thermal imager. The small footprint (~12cm) LIDAR data and 1 m ground resolution imagery are advantageous for high resolution applications such as the delineation of canopy crowns, characterization of canopy gaps, and the identification of sparse, low-stature vegetation, which is difficult to detect from space-based instruments and large-footprint LiDAR. The hyperspectral and thermal imagery can be used to characterize species composition, variations in biophysical variables (e.g., photosynthetic pigments), surface temperature, and responses to environmental stressors (e.g., heat, moisture loss). Additionally, the combination of LIDAR and optical data from G-LiHT can help separate subtle features such as hummocks and shrubs from rocks to characterize of the role of micro-topography for vegetation composition and competition in upland, lowland, and inundated areas, and provide high resolution characterization of complex tropical forests. A wing-mounted pod was fabricated to allow G-LiHT to be flown on any Cessna 206, a common aircraft in use throughout the world. G-LiHT is currently being used for forest biomass estimation in the CONUS and Mexico in support of NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) and AMIGA-Carb (AMerican Icesat Glas Assessment of Carbon).

Presentation: 2011_Poster_Cook_146_212.pdf (20029k)

Presentation Type:  Poster

Session:  Global Change Impact & Vulnerability   (Tue 11:30 AM)

Associated Project(s): 

• Nelson, Ross: A Lidar-Radar-Optical Data Fusion Approach for Estimating the Aboveground Carbon Stocks of North American Forests: Means and Uncertainties at Regional to Continental Scales ...details

Poster Location ID: 146