Lasering in on the GEDI Mission

Learning Objectives

Restate the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) Mission objectives and its capabilities.
Explore existing tools and other resources for accessing, visualizing, downloading, and interpreting the mapped data.
Compare GEDI related case studies and applied research recommendations for managing data quality and applicability.
Review key research decision options when working with GEDI data.

Why GEDI? Mission Objectives and Global Relevance
1. The GEDI Mission specifications
2. Overview of GEDI data products
3. Example applications of GEDI
Navigating the GEDI Ecosystem: Products, Structures
1. Choosing a product to work with
2. Formatting of each GEDI footprint, gridded, and derived products
3. Several ways to directly access, process, and/or visualize GEDI data
Tools for Navigating the GEDI Ecosystem
1. Free and open source platforms for processing and visualizing other lidar data
The Building Blocks of Analysis: Foundational Variables for Understanding the Characteristics of GEDI Data
1. GEDI’s full-waveform lidar captures vertical structure
2. Reference table for important concepts and variables to consider when exploring and preparing data for analysis.
3. More background on selected variables (beam type, solar elevation, algorithm setting groups, beam sensitivity, quality flag, degrade flag, leaf status)
4. Summarizing key considerations for foundational variables when exploring and selecting GEDI data ready for analysis and application
  1. Which metrics and variables are commonly used across applications?
  2. Key starting points for deciding how to process GEDI data
How GEDI Informs Ecosystem Studies
1. Summarizing applications of GEDI and how challenges were mitigated
2. Highlighting GEDI applications case study
3. Advantages and disadvantages of using GEDI