Methodology ยท LiDAR
Spaceborne LiDAR - altimetry and canopy structure
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.
How it works
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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidar)
Topics this serves
- Forest structure and biomass well suited
- Snow water equivalent well suited
- Geology and geohazards adequate
Existing implementations
Demonstrated
Capable, undemonstrated
None on record.
Sources
- [wikipedia]Wikipedia: Lidarcommunityaccessed 2026-05-22
Methodology
Edited from public sources. Last reviewed date pending by SpectraWorks editorial. See the data dictionary for field definitions.