MEaSUREs Greenland Ice Sheet Velocity Map from InSAR Data, Version 2
Data set id:
NSIDC-0478
DOI: 10.5067/OC7B04ZM9G6Q
This is the most recent version of these data.
Version Summary
For Version 2, all velocity maps underwent quality control screening to remove erroneous data points. In addition, the following measures were performed:


  • Added new map for 2009/2010.

  • Added ALOS fine-beam data to improve coverage in 2006/2007, 2007/2008, and 2008/2009.

  • Corrected a substantial error on Rink glacier where the time interval was off by a factor of 2.

  • Improved baseline fits for consistency in the interior of the ice sheet.

  • Updated error estimates to better represent the average behavior of the data.

  • Added/updated shapefiles of satellite tracks for 2014 to 2018 winters.

  • Added browse files for 2014 to 2018 winters.

  • Updated the velocity magnitude (vv) file name.

  • Changed the missing data value for the velocity magnitude (vv) files to -1 and set it as the attribute in all files.

Overview

This data set, part of the NASA Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) program, contains seasonal (winter) ice sheet-wide velocity maps for Greenland. The maps are derived from Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data obtained by the Canadian Space Agency's (CSA) RADARSAT-1, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS), and the German Aerospace Center's (DLR) TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X (TSX/TDX) satellites, as well as from the European Space Agency's (ESA) C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar data from Copernicus Sentinel-1A and -1B. See Greenland Ice Mapping Project (GIMP) for related data.
Parameter(s):
ICE VELOCITY
Platform(s):
ALOS, RADARSAT-1, SENTINEL-1A, SENTINEL-1B, TDX, TSX
Sensor(s):
C-SAR, PALSAR, SAR
Data Format(s):
GeoTIFF, JPEG, Shapefile
Temporal Coverage:
3 September 2000 to 24 January 2001
13 December 2005 to 20 April 2006
18 December 2006 to 6 June 2007
7 September 2007 to 23 April 2008
15 September 2008 to 16 June 2009
2 September 2009 to 7 May 2010
10 November 2012 to 5 April 2013
1 September 2014 to 31 May 2015
1 September 2015 to 31 May 2016
1 September 2016 to 31 May 2017
1 September 2017 to 31 May 2018
Temporal Resolution:
  • Varies
Spatial Resolution:
  • 200 m
  • 500 m
  • 200 m
  • 500 m
Spatial Reference System(s):
WGS 84 / NSIDC Sea Ice Polar Stereographic North
EPSG:3413
Spatial Coverage:
N:
83
S:
60
E:
-14
W:
-75
Blue outlined yellow areas on the map below indicate the spatial coverage for this data set.
Strengths and Limitations

Strengths

  • Derived largely from winter (September to May) data, so velocities are mostly free from the influence of summer speed-up.
  • Provides some of the earliest wide-area coverage of Greenland (Joughin et al., 2010).

Limitations

  • Should not be used to determine inter-annual change for interior regions of the Greenland Ice Sheet, as the accuracy is generally less than anticipated changes at those time-scales.
  • Although data are posted as fine as 200 m, actual resolution can vary from a few hundred meters to 1.5 km.

Data Access & Tools

A free NASA Earthdata Login account is required to access these data. Learn More

Sample Data Image

Image
Greenland maps of seasonal ice velocity in meters per year for the 2016-2017 winter

This color-coded map shows seasonal ice velocity in meters per year across Greenland for the 2016-2017 winter. Highest velocities appear in magenta and red, intermediate velocities appear in blue and green, and lowest velocities appear in yellow and peach. Credit: NASA MEaSUREs GrIMP Data: DLR, ESA, CSA,USGS

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