ICESat-2 Bathymetry Training and Testing Database

• Main Authors: Ohlwiler, Ellery E., Ghartey, Charles E., McCullough, Ruth M., Parrish, Christopher E., Magruder, Lori A., Dietrich, James T., Holwill, Matthew, Markel, Jonathan
• Other Authors: Ward, Larry, College of Engineering
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English; unknown
• Published: Oregon State University
• Subjects: submarine topography; remote sensing; multibeam mapping; National Snow and Ice Data Center; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/datasets/j3860g66d

NASA’s ICESat-2 satellite, which launched in 2018, carries the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), a green-wavelength, photon-counting lidar. While ICESat-2’s primary mission focuses on measurement of elevation of ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice, and vegetation, ATLAS has also proven remarkably effective at measurement of bathymetry, or water depths. However, there is currently no along-track, dedicated ICESat-2 bathymetry data product. To address this need, our University of Texas at Austin (UTA) – Oregon State University (OSU) research team is currently working with the ICESat-2 Project Science Office on a new ICESat-2 Level 3 bathymetric data product, which will be called ATL24. A key step in the ATL24 workflow involves automatically detecting returns from the seafloor and sea surface. In order to train and test algorithms for automatically detecting sea surface and seafloor returns, a preliminary step was to develop a robust training and testing database, including data from coastal locations around the globe, including varying morphological characteristics, substrate types, and cover types (e.g., seagrass, macroalgae, and coral). Our project team generated the ICESat-2 training and testing database provided through this ScholarsArchive@OSU publication. OSU graduate students, Ellery Ohlwiler, Charles Ghartey, and Ruth McCullough led the generation of the included datasets. Areas with bathymetry were determined though OpenAltimetry. Track ID, Beam, and date were collected to download the full ATL03 Release 5 (Rel 005) data granules from the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) database. ICEVis, a UT-Austin proprietary software developed by Matthew Howell, was used for classifications. This project specifically focused on bathymetric bottom and water surface. H5 files were then converted to the final CSV format, where the latitude, longitude and label for each photon are stored. The classification scheme used is consistent with up-to-date ASPRS standards. The bathymetric bottom is ...