GLAS/ICESat L2 Global Planetary Boundary Layer and Elevated Aerosol Layer Heights

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Entry ID

GLA08

Summary

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-2 planetary boundary layer (PBL) and elevated aerosol layer heights data (GLA08) contains PBL heights, ground detection heights, and top and bottom heights of elevated aerosols from -1.5 km to 20.5 km (4 sec sampling rate) and from 20.5 km to 41 km (20 sec sampling rate).

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.

Data Set Citation

Dataset Creator: H.J. Zwally, R. Schutz, W. Hart, D. Hlavka, S. Palm,
Dataset Title: GLAS/ICESat L2 Global Planetary Boundary Layer and Elevated Aerosol Layer Heights
Dataset Release Date: 2003-01-01
Dataset Release Place: Boulder, CO U.S.A.
Dataset Publisher: National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
Version: 18
Online Resource: http://nsidc.org/data/gla08.html

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 2003-02-20

Data Resolution

Temporal Resolution: 1/40 second full-rate data

Location Keywords

• Geographic Region Global

Science Keywords

• Atmosphere Aerosols Aerosol Particle Properties
• Atmosphere Altitude Planetary Boundary Layer Height

Ancillary Keywords

• Aerosol Layer Height
• Attenuated Backscatter Cross-section
• Backscatter
• DAAC
• EOSDIS
• GLA08
• GLAS
• Global Positioning System
• GPS
• ICESat
• ISIPS
• Laser Return Energy
• Lidar
• Lidar Backscatter
• Lidar Return Signal
• NASA
• NSIDC
• Orbit Number
• Precision Attitude Determination
• Precision Orbit Determination
• Range

ISO Topic Category (View Definitions)

• Elevation

Platform

• ICESAT Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite
• SATELLITES

Instrument

• ALTIMETERS
• GLAS Geoscience Laser Altimeter System
• LIDAR Light Detection and Ranging

Project

• ICESAT Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite

Quality

Browse products in PNG graphic format contain quality information; these are available along with corresponding data granules in the Data Pool or EOS Data Gateway.

Data Set Progress

IN WORK

Data Center

National Snow and Ice Data Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org
Data Set ID: GLA081

Data Center Personnel

Name: NSIDC User Services
Phone: +1 (303) 492-6199
Fax: +1 (303) 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

NSIDC Distributed Active Archive Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org/daac/index.html
Data Set ID: GLA081

Data Center Personnel

Name: NSIDC DAAC User Services
Phone: +1 (303) 492-6199
Fax: +1 (303) 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

Distribution

Distribution Media: FTP
Distribution Size: 7 MB per granule
Distribution Format: scaled integer binary

Personnel

NSIDC USER SERVICES
Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT
Phone: +1 (303) 492-6199
Fax: +1 (303) 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

David Hancock
Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT
Email: David.W.Hancock@nasa.gov
Contact Address:
ISIPS Manager
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Wallops Flight Facility
Wallops Island, VA
USA

H. Jay ZWALLY
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Phone: 301-614-5643
Fax: 301-614-5644
Email: Jay.Zwally@nasa.gov
Contact Address:
Laboratory for Hydrospheric Processes
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Code 971
City: Greenbelt
Province or State: MD
Postal Code: 20771
Country: USA

Robert Schutz
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
GLAS Science Team Lead
University of Texas at Austin
Center for Space Research
City: Austin
Province or State: TX
Postal Code: 78712-1085
Country: USA

Steve Palm
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
Science Systems and Applications, Inc.
City: Lanham
Province or State: MD

William Hart
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
Science Systems and Applications, Inc.
City: Lanham
Province or State: MD

Dennis Hlavka
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
Science Systems and Applications, Inc.
City: Lanham
Province or State: MD

James Spinhirne
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
City: Greenbelt
Province or State: MD
Postal Code: 20771

Ellsworth Welton
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
City: Greenbelt
Province or State: MD

Related URL

VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE
ICESat/GLAS web site at NSIDC

VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
ICESat/GLAS web site at University of Texas

VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
ICESat/GLAS web site at NASA Wallops Flight Facility

VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
ICESat/GLAS web site at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Reference

Bae, S. and B.E. Schutz. 2002. Precision attitude determination (PAD). GLAS algorithm theoretical basis document. Version 2.2. Austin, TX: Center for Space Research, University of Texas at Austin.

Center for Space Research. 'ICESat/GLAS.' January 2002. http://www.csr.utexas.edu/glas/.


Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). 1996. EOS Ground System (EGS) Systems and Operations Concept. Greenbelt, MD: Goddard Space Flight Center.

GLAS Science Team. 2000. Mission Operations Requirement Document (MORD) for the Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) Mission. Greenbelt, MD: Goddard Space Flight Center.

GLAS Science Team. 1997. GLAS Science Requirements. Version 2.01. Greenbelt, MD: Goddard Space Flight Center.

Guzzi, R., ed. 2003. Exploring the atmosphere by remote sensing techniques. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer-Verlag.

Heroux, D. 2000. Progress report on GLAS interface effort with ECS NOSE. Rev. 29 December 2000. Landover, MD: Emergent-IT/Raytheon.

Herring, T.A. and K. Quinn. 1999. Atmospheric delay correction to GLAS laser altimeter ranges. GLAS algorithm theoretical basis document. Version 1.0. Lanham, MD: Science Systems and Applications, Inc.

Jester, P., and J. Lee. 2002. GLAS standard data products specification - level 1. Version 6.0. Wallops Island, VA: Raytheon ITSS.

Lee, J. 2002. GSAS user's guide: Version 4.0. Wallops Island, VA: Raytheon ITSS.

Palm, S., W. Hart, and D. Hlavka. 2002. GLAS atmospheric data products. GLAS algorithm theoretical basis document. Version 4.2. Lanham, MD: Science Systems and Applications, Inc.

Rim, H., and B. Schutz. 2002. Precision orbit determination. GLAS algorithm theoretical basis document. Version 2.2. Austin, TX: Center for Space Research, University of Texas at Austin.

Schutz, B. 2002. Laser footprint location (geolocation) and surface profiles.GLAS algorithm theoretical basis document. Version 3.0. Austin, TX: Center for Space Research, University of Texas at Austin.

Schutz, B. 2000. GLAS altimeter post-launch calibration/validation plan. Version 0.99. Austin, TX: Center for Space Research, University of Texas at Austin.


Stephens, G.L. 1994. Remote sensing of the lower atmosphere: an introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.

Wahr, J., D. Wingham, and C. Bentley. 2000. A method of combining ICESat and GRACE satellite data to constrain Antarctic mass balance. Journal of Geophysical Research 105(B7):16,279-16,294.

Yi, D., J. Minster, and C. Bentley. 1999. Ocean tidal loading corrections. GLAS algorithm theoretical basis document. Version 1.0. Greenbelt, MD: Goddard Space Flight Center. Zwally, H.J., B. Schutz, D. Hancock, and A. Brenner. 2000. ICESat/GLAS Standard Data Products in HDF and SCF Formats. Version 1.2. Greenbelt, MD: Goddard Space Flight Center.

Metadata Name and Version

Metadata Name: CEOS IDN DIF
Metadata Version: 9.7

Creation and Review Dates

DIF Creation Date: 2003-10-14
Last DIF Revision Date: 2009-07-01

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