Goddard’s LiDAR, Hyperspectral, and Thermal Imager (G-LiHT) mission utilizes a portable, airborne imaging system that aims to simultaneously map the composition, structure, and function of terrestrial ecosystems. G-LiHT primarily focuses on a broad diversity of forest communities and ecoregions in North America, mapping aerial swaths over the Conterminous United States (CONUS), Alaska, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.

The purpose of G-LiHT’s Digital Terrain Model Keyhole Markup Language (KML) data product (GLDTMK) is to provide LiDAR-derived bare earth elevation, aspect and slope on the EGM96 Geopotential Model. Scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center began collecting data over locally-defined areas in 2011 and the collection will continue to grow as aerial campaigns are flown and processed.

GLDTMK data are processed as a Google Earth overlay KML file at a nominal 1 meter spatial resolution over locally-defined areas. A low resolution browse is also provided showing the digital terrain with a color map applied in JPEG format.