Accuracy Assessment of GEDI Terrain Elevation and Canopy Height Estimates in European Temperate Forests: Influence of Environmental and Acquisition Parameters

Lidar remote sensing has proven to be a powerful tool for estimating ground elevation, canopy height, and additional vegetation parameters, which in turn are valuable information for the investigation of ecosystems. Spaceborne lidar systems, like the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI), c...

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Main Authors: Markus Adam, Mikhail Urbazaev, Clémence Dubois, Christiane Schmullius
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-12-01
Series:Remote Sensing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/23/3948
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spelling doaj-c189eb95fab84b598ee9e94cba774bf62020-12-03T00:03:12ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922020-12-01123948394810.3390/rs12233948Accuracy Assessment of GEDI Terrain Elevation and Canopy Height Estimates in European Temperate Forests: Influence of Environmental and Acquisition ParametersMarkus Adam0Mikhail Urbazaev1Clémence Dubois2Christiane Schmullius3Department for Earth Observation, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Loebdergraben 32, 07743 Jena, GermanyDepartment for Earth Observation, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Loebdergraben 32, 07743 Jena, GermanyDepartment for Earth Observation, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Loebdergraben 32, 07743 Jena, GermanyDepartment for Earth Observation, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Loebdergraben 32, 07743 Jena, GermanyLidar remote sensing has proven to be a powerful tool for estimating ground elevation, canopy height, and additional vegetation parameters, which in turn are valuable information for the investigation of ecosystems. Spaceborne lidar systems, like the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI), can deliver these height estimates on a near global scale. This paper analyzes the accuracy of the first version of GEDI ground elevation and canopy height estimates in two study areas with temperate forests in the Free State of Thuringia, central Germany. Digital terrain and canopy height models derived from airborne laser scanning data are used as reference heights. The influence of various environmental and acquisition parameters (e.g., canopy cover, terrain slope, beam type) on GEDI height metrics is assessed. The results show a consistently high accuracy of GEDI ground elevation estimates under most conditions, except for areas with steep slopes. GEDI canopy height estimates are less accurate and show a bigger influence of some of the included parameters, specifically slope, vegetation height, and beam sensitivity. A number of relatively high outliers (around 9–13% of the measurements) is present in both ground elevation and canopy height estimates, reducing the estimation precision. Still, it can be concluded that GEDI height metrics show promising results and have potential to be used as a basis for further investigations.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/23/3948spaceborne LidarGEDIaccuracy assessmentcanopy height modeldigital terrain model
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Markus Adam
Mikhail Urbazaev
Clémence Dubois
Christiane Schmullius
spellingShingle Markus Adam
Mikhail Urbazaev
Clémence Dubois
Christiane Schmullius
Accuracy Assessment of GEDI Terrain Elevation and Canopy Height Estimates in European Temperate Forests: Influence of Environmental and Acquisition Parameters
Remote Sensing
spaceborne Lidar
GEDI
accuracy assessment
canopy height model
digital terrain model
author_facet Markus Adam
Mikhail Urbazaev
Clémence Dubois
Christiane Schmullius
author_sort Markus Adam
title Accuracy Assessment of GEDI Terrain Elevation and Canopy Height Estimates in European Temperate Forests: Influence of Environmental and Acquisition Parameters
title_short Accuracy Assessment of GEDI Terrain Elevation and Canopy Height Estimates in European Temperate Forests: Influence of Environmental and Acquisition Parameters
title_full Accuracy Assessment of GEDI Terrain Elevation and Canopy Height Estimates in European Temperate Forests: Influence of Environmental and Acquisition Parameters
title_fullStr Accuracy Assessment of GEDI Terrain Elevation and Canopy Height Estimates in European Temperate Forests: Influence of Environmental and Acquisition Parameters
title_full_unstemmed Accuracy Assessment of GEDI Terrain Elevation and Canopy Height Estimates in European Temperate Forests: Influence of Environmental and Acquisition Parameters
title_sort accuracy assessment of gedi terrain elevation and canopy height estimates in european temperate forests: influence of environmental and acquisition parameters
publisher MDPI AG
series Remote Sensing
issn 2072-4292
publishDate 2020-12-01
description Lidar remote sensing has proven to be a powerful tool for estimating ground elevation, canopy height, and additional vegetation parameters, which in turn are valuable information for the investigation of ecosystems. Spaceborne lidar systems, like the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI), can deliver these height estimates on a near global scale. This paper analyzes the accuracy of the first version of GEDI ground elevation and canopy height estimates in two study areas with temperate forests in the Free State of Thuringia, central Germany. Digital terrain and canopy height models derived from airborne laser scanning data are used as reference heights. The influence of various environmental and acquisition parameters (e.g., canopy cover, terrain slope, beam type) on GEDI height metrics is assessed. The results show a consistently high accuracy of GEDI ground elevation estimates under most conditions, except for areas with steep slopes. GEDI canopy height estimates are less accurate and show a bigger influence of some of the included parameters, specifically slope, vegetation height, and beam sensitivity. A number of relatively high outliers (around 9–13% of the measurements) is present in both ground elevation and canopy height estimates, reducing the estimation precision. Still, it can be concluded that GEDI height metrics show promising results and have potential to be used as a basis for further investigations.
topic spaceborne Lidar
GEDI
accuracy assessment
canopy height model
digital terrain model
url https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/23/3948
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AT mikhailurbazaev accuracyassessmentofgediterrainelevationandcanopyheightestimatesineuropeantemperateforestsinfluenceofenvironmentalandacquisitionparameters
AT clemencedubois accuracyassessmentofgediterrainelevationandcanopyheightestimatesineuropeantemperateforestsinfluenceofenvironmentalandacquisitionparameters
AT christianeschmullius accuracyassessmentofgediterrainelevationandcanopyheightestimatesineuropeantemperateforestsinfluenceofenvironmentalandacquisitionparameters
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