y and accuracy to pierce cloud cover which will solve this problem. Most instruments used by scientists to observe Earth can not project through the thinnest of clouds without producing a distorted image (Roach 1). In addition, bio-diversity studies can use the Vegetation Canopy LIDAR Mission’s comprehensive assessments of a forest’s structure to identify and monitor habitat areas. The Vegetation Canopy LIDAR Mission will also aide in the prediction of weather patterns because the measurements it can take help in the understanding of wind flow over the earth.The Vegetation Canopy LIDAR Mission will use five lasers that send pulses of energy to the Earth’s surface. Photons from the lasers bounce off leaves, branches, and the ground then reflect back to the instrument. The Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) device is the same type of device as the Radio Detection and Ranging (RADAR), but the energy sources are different. LIDAR devices are active remote sensors since they include the light source (Cross 1). The Vegetation Canopy LIDAR Mission uses pulsed radar from a single-instrument, a small spacecraft, 400 kilometer altitude, global remote sensing of tree canopy height, vertical distribution of intercepted surfaces in the canopy, and ground topography. The LIDAR instrument for the Vegetation Canopy LIDAR Mission is the Multi-Beam Laser Altimeter (MBLA). This device has five laser transmitters, a large receiver telescope, a set of five detectors and laser-pulse analysis electronics, computer data electronics, and a pointing angle measuring system. “The primary role for MBLA in measurement of the Earth’s vegetation canopy is enabled by the related techniques of laser pulse time-of-flight measurement and laser pulse shape analysis that constitute a LIDAR capability for remote sensing of the Earth’s surface” (Doherty 1). The laser-based sensors (LIDAR) operate in basically the same manner ...
