GEDI L1B Geolocated Waveform Data Global Footprint Level V002

The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission aims to characterize ecosystem structure and dynamics to enable radically improved quantification and understanding of the Earth’s carbon cycle and biodiversity. The GEDI instrument produces high resolution laser ranging observations of the 3-dimensional structure of the Earth. GEDI is attached to the International Space Station (ISS) and collects data globally between 51.6° N and 51.6° S latitudes at the highest resolution and densest sampling of any light detection and ranging (lidar) instrument in orbit to date. Each GEDI Version 3 granule encompasses one-fourth of an ISS orbit and includes georeferenced metadata to allow for spatial querying and subsetting. The GEDI instrument was removed from the ISS and placed into storage on March 17, 2023. No data were acquired during the hibernation period from March 17, 2023, to April 24, 2024. GEDI was reinstated on the ISS and resumed operations as of April 26, 2024. The GEDI Level 1B Geolocated Waveforms product (GEDI01_B) provides geolocated corrected and smoothed waveforms, geolocation parameters, and geophysical corrections for each laser shot for all eight GEDI beams. GEDI01_B data are created by geolocating the GEDI01_A raw waveform data. The GEDI01_B product is provided in HDF5 format and has a spatial resolution (average footprint) of 25 meters. The GEDI01_B data product comprises 97 layers/variables for each of the eight beams, encompassing geolocated corrected and smoothed waveform datasets, associated parameters, as well as ancillary, geolocation, and geophysical correction information. Known Issues * Data acquisition gaps: GEDI data acquisitions were suspended on December 19, 2019 (2019 Day 353) and resumed on January 8, 2020 (2020 Day 8). * Known Issues: Section 8 of the User Guide provides additional information on known issues.

The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission aims to characterize ecosystem structure and dynamics to enable radically improved quantification and understanding of the Earth’s carbon cycle and biodiversity. The GEDI instrument produces high resolution laser ranging observations of the 3-dimensional structure of the Earth. GEDI is attached to the International Space Station (ISS) and collects data globally between 51.6° N and 51.6° S latitudes at the highest resolution and densest sampling of any light detection and ranging (lidar) instrument in orbit to date. Each GEDI Version 2 granule encompasses one-fourth of an ISS orbit and includes georeferenced metadata to allow for spatial querying and subsetting. The GEDI instrument was removed from the ISS and placed into storage on March 17, 2023. No data were acquired during the hibernation period from March 17, 2023, to April 24, 2024. GEDI has since been reinstalled on the ISS and resumed operations as of April 26, 2024. The purpose of the GEDI Level 2A Geolocated Elevation and Height Metrics product (GEDI02_A) is to provide waveform interpretation and extracted products from each GEDI01_B received waveform, including ground elevation, canopy top height, and relative height (RH) metrics. The methodology for generating the GEDI02_A product datasets is adapted from the Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor (LVIS) algorithm. The GEDI02_A product is provided in HDF5 format and has a spatial resolution (average footprint) of 25 meters. The GEDI02_A data product contains 548 layers for each of the eight beams, including ground elevation, canopy top height, relative return energy metrics (e.g., canopy vertical structure), and many other interpreted products from the return waveforms. Additional information for the layers can be found in the GEDI Level 2A Dictionary. Known Issues * Data acquisition gaps: GEDI data acquisitions were suspended on December 19, 2019 (2019 Day 353) and resumed on January 8, 2020 (2020 Day 8). * Incorrect Reference Ground Track (RGT) number in the filename for select GEDI files: GEDI Science Data Products for six orbits on August 7, 2020, and November 12, 2021, had the incorrect RGT number in the filename. There is no impact to the science data, but users should reference this document for the correct RGT numbers. * Known Issues: Section 8 of the User Guide provides additional information on known issues.

The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission aims to characterize ecosystem structure and dynamics to enable radically improved quantification and understanding of the Earth’s carbon cycle and biodiversity. The GEDI instrument produces high resolution laser ranging observations of the 3-dimensional structure of the Earth. GEDI is attached to the International Space Station (ISS) and collects data globally between 51.6° N and 51.6° S latitudes at the highest resolution and densest sampling of any light detection and ranging (lidar) instrument in orbit to date. Each GEDI Version 3 granule encompasses one-fourth of an ISS orbit and includes georeferenced metadata to allow for spatial querying and subsetting. The GEDI instrument was removed from the ISS and placed into storage on March 17, 2023. No data were acquired during the hibernation period from March 17, 2023, to April 24, 2024. GEDI was re-instated on the ISS and resumed operations as of April 26, 2024. The GEDI Level 2A Geolocated Elevation and Height Metrics product (GEDI02_A) provides waveform interpretation and extracted products from each GEDI01_B received waveform, including ground elevation, canopy top height, and relative height (RH) metrics. The methodology for generating the GEDI02_A product datasets is adapted from the Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor (LVIS) algorithm. The GEDI02_A product is provided in HDF5 format and has a spatial resolution (average footprint) of 25 meters. The GEDI02_A data product contains 417 layers/variables for each of the eight beams, including ground elevation, canopy top height, relative return energy metrics (e.g., canopy vertical structure), and many other interpreted products from the return waveforms. Additional information for the layers can be found in the GEDI Level 2A Dictionary. Known Issues * Data acquisition gaps: GEDI data acquisitions were suspended on December 19, 2019 (2019 Day 353) and resumed on January 8, 2020 (2020 Day 8). * Known Issues: Section 8 of the User Guide provides additional information on known issues.

The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission aims to characterize ecosystem structure and dynamics to enable radically improved quantification and understanding of the Earth’s carbon cycle and biodiversity. The GEDI instrument produces high resolution laser ranging observations of the 3-dimensional structure of the Earth. GEDI is attached to the International Space Station (ISS) and collects data globally between 51.6° N and 51.6° S latitudes at the highest resolution and densest sampling of any light detection and ranging (lidar) instrument in orbit to date. Each GEDI Version 2 granule encompasses one-fourth of an ISS orbit and includes georeferenced metadata to allow for spatial querying and subsetting. The GEDI instrument was removed from the ISS and placed into storage on March 17, 2023. No data were acquired during the hibernation period from March 17, 2023, to April 24, 2024. GEDI has since been reinstalled on the ISS and resumed operations as of April 26, 2024. The purpose of the GEDI Level 2B Canopy Cover and Vertical Profile Metrics product (GEDI02_B) is to extract biophysical metrics from each GEDI waveform. These metrics are based on the directional gap probability profile derived from the L1B waveform. Metrics provided include canopy cover, Plant Area Index (PAI), Plant Area Volume Density (PAVD), and Foliage Height Diversity (FHD). The GEDI02_B product is provided in HDF5 format and has a spatial resolution (average footprint) of 25 meters. The GEDI02_B data product contains 198 layers for each of the eight-beam ground transects (or laser footprints located on the land surface). Datasets provided include precise latitude, longitude, elevation, height, canopy cover, and vertical profile metrics. Additional information for the layers can be found in the GEDI Level 2B Data Dictionary. Known Issues * Data acquisition gaps: GEDI data acquisitions were suspended on December 19, 2019 (2019 Day 353) and resumed on January 8, 2020 (2020 Day 8). * Incorrect Reference Ground Track (RGT) number in the filename for select GEDI files: GEDI Science Data Products for six orbits on August 7, 2020, and November 12, 2021, had the incorrect RGT number in the filename. There is no impact to the science data, but users should reference this document for the correct RGT numbers. * Known Issues: Section 8 of the User Guide provides additional information on known issues.

The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission aims to characterize ecosystem structure and dynamics to enable radically improved quantification and understanding of the Earth’s carbon cycle and biodiversity. The GEDI instrument produces high resolution laser ranging observations of the 3-dimensional structure of the Earth. GEDI is attached to the International Space Station (ISS) and collects data globally between 51.6° N and 51.6° S latitudes at the highest resolution and densest sampling of any light detection and ranging (lidar) instrument in orbit to date. Each GEDI Version 3 granule encompasses one-fourth of an ISS orbit and includes georeferenced metadata to allow for spatial querying and subsetting. The GEDI instrument was removed from the ISS and placed into storage on March 17, 2023. No data were acquired during the hibernation period from March 17, 2023, to April 24, 2024. GEDI was re-instated on the ISS and resumed operations as of April 26, 2024. The GEDI Level 2B Canopy Cover and Vertical Profile Metrics product (GEDI02_B) extracts biophysical metrics from each GEDI waveform. These metrics are based on the directional gap probability profile derived from the L1B waveform. Metrics provided include canopy cover, Plant Area Index (PAI), Plant Area Volume Density (PAVD), and Foliage Height Diversity (FHD). The GEDI02_B product is provided in HDF5 format and has a spatial resolution (average footprint) of 25 meters. The GEDI02_B data product contains 209 layers/variables for each of the eight-beam ground transects (or laser footprints located on the land surface). Variables provided include precise latitude, longitude, elevation, height, canopy cover, and vertical profile metrics. Additional information for the variables can be found in the GEDI Level 2B Data Dictionary. Known Issues * Data acquisition gaps: GEDI data acquisitions were suspended on December 19, 2019 (2019 Day 353) and resumed on January 8, 2020 (2020 Day 8). * Known Issues: Section 8 of the User Guide provides additional information on known issues.

The ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) mission measures the temperature of plants to better understand how much water plants need and how they respond to stress. ECOSTRESS is attached to the International Space Station (ISS) and collects data globally between 52° N and 52° S latitudes. The ECOSTRESS Swath Geolocation Instantaneous Level 1B Global (ECO_L1B_GEO) Version 3 data product provides the geolocation information for the radiance values retrieved in the ECO_L1B_RAD Version 3 data product. The geolocation product gives geo-tagging to each of the radiance pixels. The geolocation processing corrects the ISS-reported ephemeris and attitude data by image matching with a global Landsat 7 orthoimagery base layer and then assigns latitude and longitude values to each of the Level 1 radiance pixels. When image matching is successful, the data are geolocated to greater than 50 meter (m) accuracy. The ECO_L1B_GEO data product is provided as swath data. The ECO_L1B_GEO data product contains 10 data variables for latitude and longitude values, solar and view geometry information, surface height, land fraction, and a preliminary cloud mask, distributed in HDF5 format. Known Issues * Solar Array Obstruction: Some ECOSTRESS scenes may be affected by solar array obstructions from the ISS, potentially impacting data quality in obstructed pixels. The 'FieldOfViewObstruction' metadata field is reliably populated and accurate for all products generated on or after October 2024, following fixes to the Product Generation Executive (PGE) docker configuration and updates to the L1A_RAW_PIX software. Prior to October 2024, the field was not reliably populated; a list of confirmed affected scenes was maintained and is recommended for verifying historical data. * Historical acquisition gaps and anomalies (2018–2023): Irrecoverable data loss occurred due to Mass Storage Unit (MSU) failures, resulting in permanent gaps in the observational record where no ECOSTRESS data was acquired. Other early issues, including band 4 striping (Feb 2020), 3-band TES mode limitations (May 2019–April 2023), and noisy data periods (e.g., May–July 2025), have been mitigated through reprocessing, firmware updates, and instrument recovery. Version 3 products incorporate these improvements where data exists and are unaffected by ongoing issues, but the permanent historical gaps remain, and caution is advised for time-series analyses spanning affected periods. * prelim_cloud_mask valid_max attribute: The valid_max attribute for prelim_cloud_mask is currently written as 0 in production files; the correct value is 1 (reflecting the field's 0–1 range: 0=clear, 1=cloudy). This is a known metadata error affecting all L1B_GEO V3 granules processed to date. The JPL science team has corrected the issue for future processing; LP DAAC will notify users when the fix takes effect and which granules are affected. Existing granules will not be reprocessed for this issue. * Geolocation accuracy: In cases where scenes were not successfully matched with the Landsat 7 orthoimagery base layer, the geolocation error is significantly larger; the worst-case geolocation error for uncorrected data is 7 kilometers (km). Within the metadata of the ECO_L1B_GEO file, if the field 'L1GEOMetadata/OrbitCorrectionPerformed' is 'True,' the data was corrected, and geolocation accuracy should be greater than 50 m. If this field is 'False,' then the data was processed without correcting the geolocation and will have up to 7 km geolocation error.