EO·Atlas
Spaceborne LiDAR altimetry
Measures surface elevation and vegetation canopy height from photon-counting or waveform LiDAR pulses; good for forest biomass estimation, ice sheet monitoring, and terrain mapping.
Full-waveform or photon-counting systems (GEDI, ICESat-2 style) return vertical structure profiles along ground tracks. Sparse spatial sampling limits area coverage -- complementary to SAR and optical rather than a standalone mapping tool. Wikipedia: Lidar
- GEDI (Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation)
- Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS)
via ICESat-2
ATLAS on ICESat-2 (2018-present) demonstrates spaceborne lidar altimetry for ice sheet, sea ice, and forest canopy height; photon-counting approach with 11 m footprint and 0.7 m along-track spacing.
- Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS)
via ICESat
GLAS on ICESat (2003-2009) demonstrated spaceborne lidar altimetry for ice sheets, land topography, and vegetation canopy height; full-waveform approach with 66 m footprint and 170 m along-track spacing.
- Ziyuan-3 Laser Altimeter via ZY-3 02
- GF-7 Laser Altimeter via Gaofen-7 (GF-7)
- Shuttle Laser Altimeter 1 (SLA-01) via STS-72 (Space Shuttle Endeavour)
- Shuttle Laser Altimeter 2 (SLA-02) via STS-85 (Space Shuttle Discovery)
- Carble Remote Sensing for Coffee and Cocoa Supply Chains
- Multi-footprint Observation Lidar and Imager (MOLI)pending review
MOLI (planned ISS JEM 2027) designed for full-waveform vegetation canopy height mapping; 1064 nm, 25 m footprint, 150 Hz PRF. Not yet launched; capable-pending-review pending first flight data.
- ALART Lidar Altimeterpending review
ALART is an airborne photon-counting breadboard (TRL 4, ESA TRP T116-306MM) designed for spaceborne vegetation-height and bathymetry applications using 532 nm, 10 kHz PRF, 3-beam SPAD receiver. Not yet flown; capable-pending-review pending orbital demonstration.
Elastic backscatter lidar fires laser pulses (typically 532/1064 nm) and resolves the return as a function of altitude to retrieve range-resolved profiles of aerosol and cloud attenuated backscatter and extinction. Acquisition: range-gated elastic backscatter vs altitude. Retrieval: aerosol/cloud vertical structure, optical depth, depolarisation. Example instruments: CALIPSO/CALIOP, EarthCARE/ATLID.
Direct-detection (or coherent) Doppler wind lidar measures the Doppler frequency shift of laser light backscattered from molecules and aerosols at successive altitudes to derive line-of-sight wind speed profiles. Acquisition: frequency-resolved backscatter via interferometer (Fizeau/Fabry-Perot edge). Retrieval: horizontal wind component vs altitude. Example instrument: Aeolus/ALADIN (355 nm direct-detection DWL).
Differential absorption lidar transmits two closely-spaced wavelengths (online, on a gas absorption line; offline, off it) and retrieves trace-gas column or profile from the differential return attenuation. Acquisition: dual-wavelength on/off-line pulses (integrated-path IPDA against the surface return, or range-resolved DIAL). Retrieval: column-integrated dry-air mixing ratio of the target gas. Example instrument: MERLIN (methane, IPDA, ~1645 nm, CNES/DLR, phase D, launch ~2027).
- [1]Wikipedia: Lidarcommunity2026-05-22
Edited from public sources. Last reviewed date pending by SpectraWorks editorial. See the data dictionary for field definitions.