Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation

Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation lidar (GEDI)
OperatorNASA
ManufacturerGoddard Space Flight Center
Instrument typeLIDAR
Function3D structure of forests
Mission duration2 years
Websitescience.nasa.gov/missions/gedi/
Host spacecraft
SpacecraftInternational Space Station
Launch date5 December 2018
RocketFalcon 9 Block 5
Launch siteCape Canaveral SLC-40

Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI, pronounced /ˈɛd/) is a NASA mission to measure how deforestation has contributed to atmospheric CO2 concentrations.[1][2] A full-waveform LIDAR was attached to the International Space Station to provide the first global, high-resolution observations of forest vertical structure. This will allow scientists to map habitats and biomass, particularly in the tropics, providing detail on the Earth's carbon cycle.[3]

The Principal Investigator is Ralph Dubayah, at the University of Maryland. The Deputy Principal Investigator & Instrument Scientist is J. Bryan Blair at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

  1. ^ GEDI Ecosystem LIDAR Archived 2017-07-10 at the Wayback Machine. Home site. Accessed on 1 December 2018.
  2. ^ NASA probe will reveal 3D architecture of forests from space Archived 2016-03-24 at the Wayback Machine. Richard Moss, New Atlas. 14 September 2014.
  3. ^ NASA has a plan to take the most detailed scans of the world's forests ever . Pierre Bienaimé, Business Insider - UK. 3 March 2015.