Retrieving vegetation height of forests and woodlands over mountainous areas in the Pacific Coast region using satellite laser altimetry

Vegetation height is one of the leading dimensions of ecological variations among tree species and is central to ecosystem functioning [1]. Since its launch in 2003, GLAS (Geoscience Laser Altimeter System) on board ICESat (Ice, Cloud,and land Elevation Satellite) has produced unprecedented dataset at the global scale [2]. However, the challenge to retrieve canopy height from large-footprint satellite lidar waveforms over mountainous vegetated areas is formidable given the complex interaction of terrain and vegetation. Only a paucity of studies have explored the use of GLAS for vegetation height retrieval [3]-[9]. This study investigates the potential of GLAS for retrieving vegetation height over mountainous areas in the Pacific Coast region, including two conifers sites (one in California and the other in Washington) and one woodland site in California.