NSIDC-0304 GLAS/ICESat 500 m Laser Altimetry Digital Elevation Model of Antarctica John P. DiMarzio GLAS/ICESat 500 m Laser Altimetry Digital Elevation Model of Antarctica 2007-06-21 Boulder, Colorado USA NSIDC: National Snow and Ice Data Center http://nsidc.org/data/nsidc-0304.html Investigator John Dimarzio john.dimarzio@gsfc.nasa.gov 1 301 614-5893

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

SGT, Inc.

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Cryospheric Sciences Branch Code 614.1

Greenbelt MD 20771 USA Investigator Anita Brenner anita.brenner@gsfc.nasa.gov

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

SSAI

Code 614.5

Greenbelt MD 20771 USA Investigator Helen Fricker

Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics

University of California, San Diego

9500 Gilman Dr.

La Jolla California 92093 USA Investigator Robert Schutz

University of Texas at Austin

Center for Space Research

GLAS Science Team Lead

University of Texas at Austin

Center for Space Research

Austin TX 78712-1085 USA Investigator Christopher A. Shuman Christopher.A.Shuman@nasa.gov 1 301 614-5706

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Cryospheric Sciences Branch

Code 614.1

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Greenbelt MD 20771 USA Investigator H. Jay Zwally Jay.Zwally@nasa.gov 1 301 614-5643 1 301 614-5644

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Laboratory for Hydrospheric Processes

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Code 971

Greenbelt MD 20771 USA Technical Contact NSIDC User Services nsidc@nsidc.org 1 303 492-6199 x 1 303 492-2468 x

National Snow and Ice Data Center

CIRES, 449 UCB

University of Colorado

Boulder CO 80309-0449 USA EARTH SCIENCE Cryosphere Glaciers/Ice Sheets Glacier Elevation/Ice Sheet Elevation EARTH SCIENCE Terrestrial Hydrosphere Glaciers/Ice Sheets Glacier Elevation/Ice Sheet Elevation Elevation Altimetry Antarctica Antarctic Ice Sheet Dem Digital Elevation Model Elevation Ice Sheet Ice Sheet Elevation Polar Polar Stereographic South Pole GLAS Geoscience Laser Altimeter System ICESAT Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite 2003-02-01 2005-06-30 complete -86 -63 -180 180 CONTINENT ANTARCTICA 500 m 500 m ICESAT Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite Slope and elevation accuracy of the DEMs is best near the latitudinal limit of satellite coverage (±86°), and provides a good representation of the ice sheet and mountain areas (based on comparison with satellite images). DEM accuracy decreases as track spacing between ICESat profiles increases equatorward. As a quality and accuracy indicator, the mean distance of all contributing GLAS surface spot data to the grid cell center was recorded in a separate identical grid for each ice sheet. These mean distance files are provided with the elevation data. English NSIDC_DAAC NASA DAAC at the National Snow and Ice Data Center http://nsidc.org/daac/index.html Data Center Contact NSIDC User Services nsidc@nsidc.org 1 303 492-6199 1 303 492-2468

National Snow and Ice Data Center

CIRES, 449 UCB

University of Colorado

Boulder CO 80309-0449 USA NSIDC National Snow and Ice Data Center http://nsidc.org Data Center Contact NSIDC User Services nsidc@nsidc.org 1 303 492-6199 1 303 492-2468

National Snow and Ice Data Center

CIRES, 449 UCB

University of Colorado

Boulder CO 80309-0449 USA FTP 414 MB Binary Abshire, J., and 8 others. 2005. Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) on the ICESat mission: on-orbit measurement performance. Geophysical Research Letters v. 32, L21S02, doi:10.1029/2005GL1024028. Brenner, A., and 11 others. 2003. Derivation of range and range distributions from laser pulse waveform analysis for surface elevations, roughness, slope, and vegetations heights, Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD) v.4.1, available at http://www.csr.utexas.edu/glas/atbd.html. DiMarzio, J. P., A. C. Brenner, and H. J. Zwally. 2004. Comparison of Envisat and ERS radar altimetry for ice sheet elevation change studies. ESA Envisat Sympsium, Salzburg, Austria, September 9, 2004. Krabill, W., W. Abdalati, and 7 others. 2002. Aircraft laser altimetry measurement of elevation changes of the Greenland Ice Sheet: technique and accuracy assessment. J. Geodynamics 34, 357-376. Shuman, C., J. Zwally, B. Schutz, A. Brenner, J. DiMarzio, V. Schuedo, and H. Fricker. 2006. ICESat Antarctic elevation data: preliminary precision and accuracy assessment. Geophysical Research Letters 33, L07501, doi:10.1029/2005GL025227. Zwally, H. J., A. C. Brenner, J. A. Major, T. V. Martin, and R. A. Bindschadler. 1990. Satellite radar altimetry over ice, Vol. 1. Processing and corrections of Seasat data over Greenland. NASA Reference Publication 1233.

The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) instrument on the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) provides global measurements of elevation, and repeats measurements along nearly-identical tracks; its primary mission is to measure changes in ice volume (mass balance) over time. This digital elevation model (DEM) of Antarctica is derived from GLAS/ICESat laser altimetry profile data and provides new surface elevation grids of the ice sheets and coastal areas, with greater latitudinal extent and fewer slope-related effects than radar altimetry. This DEM is generated from the first seven operational periods (from February 2003 through June 2005) of the GLAS instrument. It is provided on polar stereographic grids at 500 m grid spacing. The grid covers all of Antarctica north of 86° S. Elevations are reported as centimeters above the datums, relative to both the WGS 84 ellipsoid and the EGM96 geoid, in two separate elevation data files. A data quality map of the interpolation distance is distributed in addition to the elevation data. ENVI header files are also provided. The data are in 4-byte (long) signed integer binary files (big endian byte order) and are available via FTP.

VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE http://nsidc.org/data/icesat/ Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation (ICESat) project page at NSIDC VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE http://nsidc.org/data/icesat/ ICESat/GLAS Data at NSIDC VIEW RELATED INFORMATION http://nsidc.org/data/nsidc-0305.html GLAS/ICESat 1 km Laser Altimetry Digital Elevation Model of Greenland VIEW RELATED INFORMATION http://nsidc.org/data/dems/ Polar Ice Sheet DEMs and Elevation Data VIEW RELATED INFORMATION http://nsidc.org/data/dems/ Polar Ice Sheet DEMs and Topographic Data at NSIDC CEOS IDN DIF 9.7 2007-06-21 2012-08-28 Added an archiving data center.