GEDI Repeat/Revisit Times

[LP DAAC - ckrehbiel]

User Question: Are there repeated revisit points?

[LP DAAC - ckrehbiel]

Due to GEDI being attached to the International Space Station (ISS), GEDI is not in the more common sun-synchronous or polar orbits, meaning that it acquires data at different times of day and on a non-standard schedule. Thus the temporal resolution varies with the varying orbit of the ISS, and is ___location-dependent. There are a higher frequency of observations as you approach ~51.6 degrees N/S latitude, and decreasing frequency as you approach the equator (with no observations recorded above ~53 degrees N or below ~53 degrees S latitudes). Also, since GEDI is a Lidar sampling mission (with ~25 m shot footprints)--there are no guarantees that a given ___location will have multiple directly overlapping samples for the entire lifetime of the mission. However, it is possible for certain points on the Earth’s surface to have repeated/revisited points. If you are looking for points that have multiple GEDI observations over the same footprint for your research or application, I would recommend searching areas near ~51.6 degrees N/S latitude, where there are many more GEDI shots acquired due to the orbit of the ISS.