Use of ICESat GLAS data for forest disturbance studies in central Siberia

Lidar is a laser altimeter that determines the distance from the instrument to the physical surface by measuring the time elapsed between the pulse emission and the reflected return. The returned signal may identify multiple returns originating from trees, building and other objects and permits the calculation of their height. Studies using field data have shown that lidar data can provide estimates of structural parameters such as biomass, stand volume and leaf area index. NASA´s ICESat Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) was launched in January 2003 and collected data during February and September of that year. This study used GLAS data acquired over our study sites in central Siberia to examine the returned signal as a source of information about fire and insect damaged forest stands