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Full catalog/GEDI_L4B_Gridded_Biomass_V2_1_2299
GEDI_L4B_Gridded_Biomass_V2_1_2299·v2.1·dataset

How much plant matter forests hold (GEDI, mapped)

GEDI L4B Gridded Aboveground Biomass Density, Version 2.1
biosphere NASA ORNL_CLOUD Level 4 COG
In plain English

What it measures. A map of how much living plant matter (mostly wood, leaves, and stems above the ground) forests and other vegetation hold, given as an average for each 1-kilometer square. Each square also comes with a number showing how uncertain that estimate is.

How it's made. Built from laser measurements taken by the GEDI instrument on the International Space Station, which sampled spots within each square and then used statistics to estimate an average for the whole square.

How & where you'd use it. Helps scientists and land managers track how much carbon forests store, monitor deforestation and regrowth, and inform climate and conservation decisions.

What's measured

BIOSPHERE › ECOSYSTEMS › TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMSSPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › LIDAR › LIDAR WAVEFORMBIOSPHERE › VEGETATION › BIOMASS

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2019-04-18 → 2023-03-16
  • Measured byISS (GEDI)
  • Processing levelLevel 4
  • Spatial extent-180, -52, 180, 52
  • FormatsCOG
  • StatusCOMPLETE

What you can do with it

  • Map vegetation, forests and biomass
  • Monitor ecosystem productivity and carbon
  • Support habitat and biodiversity studies
Official description

This Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) L4B product provides 1 km x 1 km (1 km, hereafter) estimates of mean aboveground biomass density (AGBD) based on observations from mission week 19 starting on 2019-04-18 to mission week 223 ending on 2023-03-16. The GEDI L4A Footprint Biomass product converts each high-quality waveform to an AGBD prediction, and the L4B product uses the sample present within the borders of each 1 km cell to statistically infer mean AGBD. The gridding procedure is described in the GEDI L4B Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD). Patterson et al. (2019) describes the hybrid model-based mode of inference used in the L4B product. Corresponding 1 km estimates of the standard error of the mean are also provided in the L4B product. Uncertainty is due to both GEDI's sampling of the 1 km area (as opposed to making wall-to-wall observations) and the fact that L4A biomass values are modeled in a process subject to error instead of measured in a process that may be assumed to be error-free.

Get the data

gedi_l4b_gridded_biomass_v2_1_2299_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="GEDI_L4B_Gridded_Biomass_V2_1_2299",
    version="2.1",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from ORNL_CLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.