Application of Single Photon Lidar for Retrieval of Ecosystem Structure

One of the recent developments in remote sensing of ecosystem structure is the use of single photon lidar (SPL). An SPL instrument, ATLAS, is being developed for the measurement of ice sheet elevation for the ICESAT2 mission. Unlike waveform lidar, there is major uncertainty about SPL as deployed in space; among other considerations, low pulse energy and operation in visible wavelengths may make discrimination of canopy and ground signal from solar background difficult. In this talk we present an overview of our research using SPL for retrieval of ecosystem structure. We first provide background on SPL technology and highlight its differences with waveform lidar. We then review the characteristics of SPL data to be provided by ICESAT2. We present results of initial experiments with airborne SPL data used to simulate data from ICESAT2 and suggest directions for continued algorithm development. Lastly, we discuss the potential role of airborne and space-based SPL for characterizing important ecosystem structure in the future.