Seasat and GEOSAT Altimetry for the Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets  View Catalog Page Entry ID
NSIDC-0053
Summary
The Ice Altimetry System (IAS) CD-ROM contains surface elevations of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets derived from Seasat and GEOSAT radar altimetry data. The Seasat data were collected for a continuous 90 days in 1978, at latitudes between 72 degrees South and 72 degrees North. GEOSAT was launched in 1985 and placed in a nearly identical orbit to Seasat, also at latitudes of between 72 degrees South and 72 degrees North. The orbit was designed to provide high-density measurements over the Earth's surface, at a maximum grid spacing of 2.7 kilometers at the equator and much denser spacing over polar ice sheets. Data were acquired between April 1985 and September 1986.
Initially acquired by the Johns Hopkins APL (Applied Physics Lab) satellite tracking facility, the raw altimetry satellite data from Seasat and GEOSAT were passed on to NASA, via the US Navy. NASA developed slope correction routines for the higher slopes over the ice sheets, relative to ocean surfaces. The data are height profile Level 3 data and gridded height Level 4 data provided by the Oceans and Ice branch of the Laboratory for Hydrospheric Physics of Goddard Space Flight Center. Elevations from the full data rate (i.e., one measurement every 662.5 m) are provided in georeferenced databases. These elevations are relative to the WGS-84 ellipsoid. Gridded elevations at 10-kilometer and 20-kilometer spacing are provided in the gridded data sets created from the GEOSAT and Seasat data, respectively. Software to extract and browse subsets of these data is included on the CD-ROM. The IAS software also allows the user to view contours created from the gridded data and groundtracks of the full-rate data.
Geographic Coverage
Spatial Coordinates:
N: 72°
S: 60°
E: -20°
W: -60°
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Data Set Citation
Dataset Title: Seasat and GEOSAT Altimetry for the Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets
Dataset Release Date: 1997-01-01
Dataset Release Place: Boulder, CO U.S.A.
Dataset Publisher: National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
Online Resource: http://nsidc.org/data/nsidc-0053.html
Temporal Coverage
Start Date: 1978-06-01
Stop Date: 1986-09-30
Location Keywords
- Continent Antarctica
- Continent North America Greenland
Science Keywords
- Cryosphere Glaciers/Ice Sheets Glacier Elevation/Ice Sheet Elevation
- Cryosphere Glaciers/Ice Sheets Ice Sheets
- Terrestrial Hydrosphere Glaciers/Ice Sheets Glacier Elevation/Ice Sheet Elevation
- Terrestrial Hydrosphere Glaciers/Ice Sheets Ice Sheets
Ancillary Keywords
- Altimetry
- Antarctic
- Goddard Space Flight Center
- Greenland
- ice sheets
- NASA
- Radar
- Radar Altimetry
- Satellite Radar Data
Platform
- GEOSAT Geodetic Satellite
- SEASAT Ocean Dynamics Satellite
Instrument
Project
- EOSDIS Earth Observing System Data Information System
- ESIP Earth Science Information Partners Program
Data Set Progress
COMPLETE
Data Center
National Snow and Ice Data Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org
Data Set ID: NSIDC-0053
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 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: CD-ROM
Distribution Format: ASCII, binary
Fees: None
Personnel
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
ANITA BRENNER
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Email: anita.brenner@gsfc.nasa.gov
Contact Address:
Code 614.5
City: Greenbelt
Province or State: MD
Postal Code: 20771
Country: USA
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
Reference
National Snow and Ice Data Center. 1985-1986. Users' Manual on the Ice Altimetry System CD-ROM.
NSIDC Distributed Active Archive Center, University of Colorado at Boulder. Seasat and GEOSAT Ice Altimetry Data. Digital data available from nsidc@kryos.colorado.edu. Boulder, Colorado.
Zwally, H. J., A. C. Brenner, J. A. Major, T. V. Martin, and R. A. Bindschadler. 1990. Satellite radar altimetry over ice. Processing and corrections of Seasat data over Greenland. NASA Reference Publication 1: 1233.
Zwally, H. Jay, Judy A. Major, Anita C. Brenner, and Robert A. Bindschadler. 1987. Ice measurements by GEOSAT radar altimetry. Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest. 8:2:251-254.
Metadata Name and Version
Metadata Name: CEOS IDN DIF
Metadata Version: 9.7
Creation and Review Dates
Last DIF Revision Date: 2001-10-04
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