GLAS/ICESat L1B Global Elevation Data, Version 18

• Main Author: National Snow and Ice Data Center
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Ice Sheet; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://search.dataone.org/view/sha256:c08486ccf9ff7b22cac3b63d92a171f37813a9c8f6b6b8c090dbe05dae739e41

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.