Estimating forest canopy height from large-footprint satellite LiDAR waveforms is challenging given the complex interaction between LiDAR waveforms, terrain, and vegetation, especially in dense tropical and equatorial forests. In this study, canopy height in French Guiana was estimated using multiple linear regression models and the Random Forest technique (RF). This analysis was either based o...

The Open-Source Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is fundamental data of the geoscientific community. However, variation its accuracy with land cover type and topography has not been thoroughly studied. This study evaluates five globally covered open-accessed DEM products (TanDEM-X90 m, SRTEM, NASADEM, ASTER GDEM, AW3D30) in mountain area using ICESat/GLAS as GCPs. robust evaluation indicators were...

We report on a previously undocumented range error in NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) that degrades elevation precision and introduces a small but significant elevation trend over the ICESat mission period. This range error (the Gaussian-Centroid or “G-C” offset) varies on a shot-to-shot basis and exhibits increasing scatter when laser transmit energies fall below 20 mJ....

We present in this paper a polynomial fitting method applicable to segments of footprints measured by the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) to estimate glacier thickness change. Our modification makes the method applicable to complex topography, such as a large mountain glacier. After a full analysis of the planar fitting method to characterize errors of estimates due to complex topograp...

Forest biomass is an important parameter for quantifying and understanding biological and physical processes on the Earth’s surface. Rapid, reliable, and objective estimations of forest biomass are essential to terrestrial ecosystem research. The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) produced substantial scientific data for detecting the vegetation structure at the footprint level. This stud...

A new protocol similar to EPA method TO-14A was established to quantify and report variations in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from different ground level area sources (GLAS) in a free-stall dairy in central Texas. The objective of the study was to estimate and compare methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission factors (EFs) from different GLAS using this new protoco...

Mapping forest AGB (Above Ground Biomass) is of crucial importance to estimate the carbon emissions associated with tropical deforestation. This study proposes a method to overcome the saturation at high AGB values of existing AGB map (Vieilledent’s AGB map) by using a map of correction factors generated from GLAS (Geoscience Laser Altimeter System) spaceborne LiDAR data. The Vieilledent’s AGB ...