Earthdata Forum

Hi,

I am using the L4A V2 GEDI data for an area in Colombia, and when I look at the uncertainty variable "agbd_se" I only see values which are either around 13 or around 3. It seems that while the "agbd" variable itself can vary across a wide range of values, the uncertainty "agbd_se" can pretty much be either 13 or 3.

Could you please help in understanding what I see?

@gcaria We have our GEDI subject matter expert working on your question. They will respond soon.

Hi @gcaria, The `agbd_se` value should vary based on which prediction stratum the particular shot belongs to and its RH metrics. As an example, I have attached a plot of shots for one beam ('BEAM0110') of a GEDI L4A file `GEDI04_A_2020207182449_O09168_03_T03028_02_002_01_V002.h5`. In the figure, x-axis is the first predictor variable (xvar_0) and y-axis is agbd_se in Mg/ha.
If you can share the name of the files you are having the issue with, we can investigate them further. Thank you !

Thanks for your answer.

In the plots you have posted I can see the same issue I'm reporting, that is agbd_se with an almost constant value (I'm assuming agbd itself actually does vary significantly in magnitude in the data used for your plots).

To be more specific about my case, I've made the attached histograms taking file "GEDI04_A_2019108110901_O01966_02_T02493_02_002_01_V002.h5", selecting only the full power beams, and clipping to a polygon defined by a WRS2 scene (path=9, scene=55, available here: https://www.usgs.gov/media/files/landsat-wrs-2-scene-boundaries-kml-file).

In order to find, download and clip the data I've followed the procedures outlined here: https://github.com/ornldaac/gedi_tutorials

Although the sample used to make these histograms is small, I see this pattern (agbd with wide range but agbd_se with an almost constant value of 13 Mg/ha, and less often 3 Mg/ha) consistently for all GEDI orbits data that fall within this polygon, and actually also for a much larger (5x) area in the same region of South America.

@gcaria, @ORNL - shresthar is working with the GEDI Science Team to investigate your question. A response is forthcoming.

Hi @gcaria , The GEDI Science Team has advised to use "agbd_t_se" to calculate prediction intervals. "agbd_se", which represents a back-transformed "agbd_t_se", might not be meaningful. The section around "In [33]" and "In [34]" in the tutorial shows how to compute the prediction intervals at different alpha levels. I hope this helps!