ICESat/GLAS Canopy Height Sensitivity Inferred from Airborne Lidar

Summary, in English

Variations in laser properties and data acquisition times introduced inconsistencies in Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) data. The effect of data inconsistencies, on two GLAS height retrieval methods, from three study sites, are investigated and validated against airborne laser scanning (ALS) percentile heights, from three data sources: all/first return point clouds, and raster canopy height models. GLAS/ALS controls were established as a basis against which the influence of laser number, transmission energy, and seasonality were assessed through comparison statistics. The favored GLAS height method best compared with ALS 95th percentile heights from an all return point cloud. Optimal GLAS data (R2 = 0.69, RMSE = 8.10 m) were noted when GLAS acquired data during summertime from high energy, laser three transmissions. As GLAS data can be used in global biomass assessments, there is a need to understand and quantify the influence of these data inconsistencies on canopy height estimates.