Analysis of GEDI Elevation Measurement Accuracy on Land Surface and Waterbody in North America

GEDI (Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation) data, L2A version data filtered using guidance provided in the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD), was analyzed by orbit and by each lake to understand waveform characteristics and define filtering criteria for improved water surface elevation measurement. In addition, elevation error analysis due to the standard deviation of GEDI footprint within orbit and the off-pointing angle from nadir was implemented. Over the seven lakes, the bias between GEDI elevations and in-situ data ranged from - 0.01 m to 0.22 m with root mean squared error (RMSE) of 0.38 m to 0.47 m. The bias between GEDI elevations and HYDROWEB database ranged from 0.01 m to 0.32 m with RMSE ranging from 0.31 m to 0.44 m. These findings indicate the potential of GEDI data for accurately calculating lake water levels and the potential of the data set to further our knowledge of lakes' hydrological significance, particularly in the data limited area in the world.