GLAS/ICESat L1B Global Elevation Data

Data Contributors

ZWALLY, H. JAY
SCHUTZ, ROBERT
BENTLEY, CHARLES
BUFTON, JACK
HERRING, THOMAS
MINSTER, JEAN-BERNARD
SPINHIRNE, JAMES
THOMAS, ROBERT

Parameters

GLACIER ELEVATION/ICE SHEET ELEVATION
GLACIER TOPOGRAPHY/ICE SHEET TOPOGRAPHY
ICE ROUGHNESS
ICE SHEETS
REFLECTANCE > Laser Reflectance, Laser Reflectance, Laser Reflectance
SEA SURFACE HEIGHT
SEA SURFACE SLOPE
SURFACE ROUGHNESS
TERRAIN ELEVATION

Instruments

ALTIMETERS
GLAS : GEOSCIENCE LASER ALTIMETER SYSTEM

The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) instrument on the Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) provides global measurements of polar ice sheet elevation to discern changes in ice volume (mass balance) over time. Secondary objectives of GLAS are to measure sea ice roughness and thickness, cloud and atmospheric properties, land topography, vegetation canopy heights, ocean surface topography, and surface reflectivity.

GLAS has a 1064 nm laser channel for surface altimetry and dense cloud heights, and a 532 nm lidar channel for the vertical distribution of clouds and aerosols.

Level-1B elevation data (GLA06) include surface elevation, surface roughness assuming no slope, surface slope assuming no roughness, and geodetic and atmospheric corrections for range measurements. GLA06 is used in conjunction with GLA05 to create the Level-2 altimetry products (GLA12-15)

Each data granule has an associated browse product that users can quickly view to determine the general quality of the data in the granule. Browse products consist of image plots of key parameters and statistics. Data are in scaled integer binary format, big-endian (Unix) byte order, and are available via FTP, CD-ROM, DVD, DLT, or 8-mm tape.

Data Citation

The following example shows how to cite the use of this data set in a publication. List the principal investigators, year of data set release, data set title and version, dates of data you used, publishers (NSIDC), and digital media.

Zwally, H.J., R. Schutz, C. Bentley, J. Bufton, T. Herring, J. Minster, J. Spinhirne, and R. Thomas. 2003, updated current year. GLAS/ICESat L1B Global Elevation Data V018, 15 October to 18 November 2003. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital media.