The fourth GEDI Science Definition Team (SDT) meeting was held on October 17, 18 and 19 at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Thirty members of the SDT and collaborators were invited to attend the meeting and discuss the progress of the last six months.
The main goals of the GEDI SDT meeting were to 1. Review and update the roles, responsibilities, resources, and schedules for science data products and analyses for GEDI mission objectives. 2. Review the product algorithms, Algorithm Theoretical Basis Documents (ATBDs) and required ancillary data products. 3. Review the GEDI Science Planning System and identify inputs required from the science definition team. 4. Review status of external collaborative activities in GEDI calibration and validation and data fusion and identify next steps for GEDI mission objectives.
The meeting was convened by GEDI PI Ralph Dubayah who led the team and collaborators through a series of presentations on the different aspects of GEDI science. The presentations were followed by a number of discussions to nail down details on data processing algorithm, discuss the progress on GEDI data applications and initiate a collaboration with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research and the FORMIND model; an Individual Based forest gap model to simulate forest growth of forest with high species diversity.
The main outputs of the meeting were 1) an updated road map for science execution vis-a-vis personnel, schedule and resources. 2) Finalization of ATBD responses to external reviews, schedule to completion, and plans for implementation at the Science Operation Center (SOC). 3) A detailed plan for a revised implementation of the GEDI Science Planning System by December 2017. 4) Recommendations for GEDI priorities with respect to NASA/ESA/DLR joint cal/val and data fusion activities, workshops, and post-launch validation campaigns.
If you would like to get a more complete understanding of the discussions during the 4th GEDI SDT meeting, please refer to NASA’s Earth Observer magazine where GEDI’s progress is reported after each meeting. Click for summaries of the 3rd meeting and 2nd meeting.
