Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS) Dataset over La Selva Biological Research Station and surrounding areas of Costa Rica.

The La Selva Biological Research Station contains over 1500 hectares of tropical wet forest in the Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica, and has been extensively surveyed for ecological, hydrological, and topographical purposes. In March of 1998, the Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS), an airborne laser altimeter designed and developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, was used to map the station as part of the pre-launch validation activities of the Vegetation Canopy Lidar (VCL) project. VCL is a spaceborne mission designed to measure vegetation height and structure as well as ground topography with a vertical accuracy of 1 meter using 25 m-diameter footprints. From an altitude of 8 km, LVIS used 25 m footprints spaced 12 m apart across and along track, simultaneously simulating VCL measurements and mapping the 5 by 5 km area of La Selva. Elevation maps of both tree canopy and sub-canopy topography were produced using information contained in the return waveform which is digitally recorded by the LVIS instrument. The ability of the laser altimeter to penetrate dense forest canopies was tested and the accuracy of the sub-canopy topography measurements was assessed by comparing the laser-derived elevations with other available data sets. These data sets include: (1) approximately 3000 elevation points from a 1991 topographic survey of La Selva, (2) FLI-MAP airborne laser altimetry data with a vertical accuracy of 5 cm from fall 1997 overflights, (3) differential, kinematic GPS data, and (4) 90 m resolution Digital Elevation Models. Resulting digital terrain maps of the La Selva Biological Research Station and neighboring overflown terrain will be presented.

The primary data products are:

* Earth topography (bare ground with vegetation removed).
* Vertical structure of tree canopies.
* Biomass estimates and above ground carbon stocks.
* Surface roughness.
* Entropy or Information density of the surveyed surface

Source: Rocchio, L E ; Hofton, M A; Dubayah, R; Blair, J B; Knox, R G. ,1998. Lidar Remote Sensing of Sub-Canopy Topography in a Tropical Wet Forest. AGU. Fall Meeting