Gaussian decomposition has been used to extract terrain elevation from waveforms of the satellite lidar GLAS (Geoscience Laser Altimeter System), on board ICESat (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite). The common assumption is that one of the extracted Gaussian peaks, especially the lowest one, corresponds to the ground. However, Gaussian decomposition is usually complicated due to the broa...

Change of globe surface height is an important factor to study human living environment. The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) on ICESat is the first laser-ranging instrument for continuous global observations of the Earth. In order to have a comprehensive understanding of full-waveform laser altimeter, this study simulated the operating mode of ICESat and modeled different terrains’ (pl...

Canopy metrics from ICESat/GLAS lidar waveforms were applied to estimate stemwood volume for a mixed temperate forest. Gaussian decomposition from product GLA14 was used to infer a ground surface return from within the waveform. The region of the waveform returned from the vegetation was subsequently taken to be between this position and the beginning of the waveform signal. The heights of vege...

Satellite-based estimates of vegetation structure capture broad-scale vegetation characteristics as well as differences in vegetation structure at plot-scales. Active remote sensing from laser altimetry and radar systems is regularly used to measure vegetation height and infer vegetation structural attributes, however, the current uncertainty of their spaceborne measurements is likely to mask a...