2023 high-resolution airborne LiDAR data for Barro Colorado Island and other Smithsonian ForestGEO Sites in Central Panama.

Data are available for download at: https://smithsonian.dataone.org/datasets/ALS_Panama_2023/Small-footprint airborne lidar, or Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS), data provides detailed information about forest vertical structure as well as ground topography. Such data are used extensively for estimating canopy height, forest above ground biomass density, leaf area indices and more, and for calibrating and validating satellite remote sensing products. The 2023 data collection campaign covered 3825.24 ha across 11 areas. It included both high-lidar data (20.31 shots per square meter) and RGB orthophotos (6 cm resolution). LiDAR data were collected with an IGI LiteMapper 6800i, which incorporates a Riegl LMS680 full waveform sensor. RGB imagery was collected with a Nikon D800E SLR camera.The covered area included all 1542 ha of Barro Colorado Island, all 700 ha of the Panama Canal Watershed Project at Agua Salud, parts of the Gigante peninsula of the Barro Colorado Nature Monument including a long-term factorial nutrient addition experiment as well as experimental liana removal plots, the San Lorenzo canopy crane site and San Lorenzo ForestGEO plot (formerly the Sherman plot), the Parque Metropolitano canopy crane site, the Limbo bird plot on Pipeline Road (Camino Oleoducto) in Parque Nacional Soberania, and other areas in and around annually measured Smithsonian ForestGEO 1-ha plots (Panama Small Plots) of P05, P06, P07, P09, P12, P14, P15, P16, elcharco,fincaroubik,metrop, panamapacifico, soberania, San Lorenzo, Santa Rita, Parque Natural Metropolitano, and Parque Nacional Soberanía.Within all sites there are established plots for the observation of forest diversity, secondary forest regrowth, lianas and more.The data collection campaign was contracted to the company STEREOCARTO which specializes in geographic engineering, GIS, geodesy, and topography. All areas were sampled during May 26 and 27 of 2023 using a helicopter Bell 206 JR III. The dataset contains a wide range of data products such as digital elevation models, digital surface models, canopy height models, orthomosaics,RGB images, classified point clouds and raw LiDAR data.