Follow the links in the table below to the GLAS Altimetry Data Dictionary for details of each record, including units and scaling factors. The GLAS science team created this dictionary. Units and scaling factors with a "d" indicate double-precision constants; for example, a value of "1.0d5" is equivalent to 100,000. Nearly all integers are signed; exceptions are noted below.
The following codes are used to denote data types throughout the remainder of this document.
i1b: 1-byte integer
i2b: 2-byte (short) integer
i4b: 4-byte (long) integer
r4b: 4-byte real
r8b: 8-byte real
Values in parentheses indicate the record size, for example:
i2b(39): 39 records of 2-byte integers
i1b(48,40): 48-record x 40-record array of 1-byte integers
When comparing data from different products, the record index is consistent as long as all products represent the same release of data. If you want to compare different products with different releases, you should update your oldest product to the latest release. For example, if you want to compare data from a GLA05 Release-12 file and GLA12 Release-18 file, you should order a new GLA05 Release-18 file to replace the older release. The ICESat/GLAS Data Releases page describes characteristics and temporal coverage of each version of data.
| Name | Short Description | Byte Offset | Data Type | Total Bytes |
| i_rec_ndx | GLAS record index | 0 | i4b | 4 |
| i_UTCTime | Transmit time of first shot in frame in J2000 | 4 | i4b(2) | 8 |
| i_transtime | One-way transmit time | 12 | i2b | 2 |
| i_Spare1 | Spares | 14 | i1b(2) | 2 |
| i_deltagpstmcor | Delta GPS time correction | 16 | i4b | 4 |
| i_dShotTime | Laser shot time deltas (shots 2-40) | 20 | i4b(39) | 156 |
| i_lat | Coordinate data, latitude, specific to ice sheet range | 176 | i4b(40) | 160 |
| i_lon | Coordinate data, longitude, specific to ice sheet range | 336 | i4b(40) | 160 |
| i_elev | Ice sheet surface elevation | 496 | i4b(40) | 160 |
| i_campaign | Campaign | 656 | i1b(2) | 2 |
| i_spare40 | i_spare40 | 658 | i2b | 2 |
| i_cycTrk | Cycle and Track | 660 | i4b | 4 |
| i_localSolarTime | Local apparent solar time | 664 | i4b | 4 |
| i_spare41 | Spare 41 | 668 | i4b(7) | 28 |
| i_deltaEllip | Delta Ellipsoid | 696 | i4b(40) | 80 |
| i_beamCoelv | Co-elevation | 776 | i4b(40) | 160 |
| i_beamAzimuth | Azimuth | 936 | i4b(40) | 160 |
| i_d2refTrk | Distance to the reference ground track | 1096 | i4b(40) | 160 |
| i_SigBegOff | Signal Begin Range Increment | 1256 | i4b(40) | 160 |
| i_DEM_hires_src | High Resolution Source Flag | 1416 | i1b(40) | 40 |
| i_DEMhiresArElv | DEMhiresArElv | 1456 | i2b(9,40) | 720 |
| i_ElevBiasCorr | Elevation Bias Correction | 2176 | i2b(40) | 80 |
| i_spare42 | Spare 42 | 2256 | i2b(4,40) | 320 |
| i_sigmaatt | Attitude quality indicator | 2576 | i2b(40) | 80 |
| i_Azimuth | Local azimuth | 2656 | i4b | 4 |
| i_SolAng | Solar incidence angle | 2660 | i4b | 4 |
| i_tpintensity_avg | Transmit pulse intensity - frame average | 2664 | i4b | 4 |
| i_tpazimuth_avg | Transmit pulse azimuth - frame average | 2668 | i2b | 2 |
| i_tpeccentricity_avg | Transmit pulse eccentricity - frame average | 2670 | i2b | 2 |
| i_tpmajoraxis_avg | Transmit pulse major axis - frame average | 2672 | i2b | 2 |
| i_poleTide | Pole Tide | 2674 | i1b(2) | 2 |
| i_gdHt | Geoid | 2676 | i2b(2) | 4 |
| i_erElv | Solid earth tide elevation (at first and last shot) | 2680 | i2b(2) | 4 |
| i_spElv | Tide elevations, specific | 2684 | i2b(4) | 8 |
| i_ldElv | Load tide elevation | 2692 | i2b(4) | 8 |
| i_spare12 | Spares | 2700 | i2b(2) | 4 |
| i_wTrop | Range correction - wet troposphere | 2704 | i2b(2) | 4 |
| i_dTrop | Range correction - dry troposphere | 2708 | i2b(40) | 80 |
| i_surfType | Region type (view byte structure) | 2788 | i1b | 1 |
| i_spare11 | Spare 11 | 2789 | i1b (3) | 3 |
| i_DEM_elv | DEM elevation | 2792 | i4b(40) | 160 |
| i_refRng | Reference range | 2952 | i4b(40) | 160 |
| i_TrshRngOff | Threshold retracker range offset | 3112 | i4b(40) | 160 |
| i_isRngOff | Ice sheet range offset | 3272 | i4b(40) | 160 |
| i_SigEndOff | Signal end range offset | 3432 | i4b(40) | 160 |
| i_cntRngOff | Centroid range offset | 3592 | i4b(40) | 160 |
| i_reflctUC | reflctUC | 3752 | i4b(40) | 160 |
| i_reflCor_atm | Reflectance correction, atmosphere | 3912 | i4b | 4 |
| i_maxSmAmp | Peak amplitude of smoothed received echo | 3916 | i2b(40) | 80 |
| i_ocElv | Ocean tide elevation (at first and last shot) | 3996 | i2b(40) | 80 |
| i_numPk | Number of peaks found in the return | 4076 | i1b(40) | 40 |
| i_kurt2 | Kurtosis of the received echo (standard) | 4116 | i2b(40) | 80 |
| i_skew2 | Skewness | 4196 | i2b(40) | 80 |
| i_spare4 | Spares | 4276 | i1b(160) | 160 |
| i_IsRngLast | Ice sheet range offset using last peak | 4436 | i4b(40) | 160 |
| i_IsRngFst | Ice sheet range offset using first peak | 4596 | i4b(40) | 160 |
| i_IceSVar | Standard deviation of the ice sheet Gaussian fit | 4756 | i2b(40) | 80 |
| i_ElvuseFlg | Elevation use flag (view byte structure) | 4836 | i1b(5) | 5 |
| i_atm_avail | Atmosphere availaility flag (view byte structure) | 4841 | i1b | 1 |
| i_spare16 | Spare 16 | 4842 | i1b(4) | 4 |
| i_cld1_mswf | Cloud multiple scattering warning flag (view byte structure) | 4846 | i1b | 1 |
| i_MRC_af | Medium resolution cloud availability flag (view byte structure) | 4847 | i1b | 1 |
| i_spare9 | Spares | 4848 | i1b(40) | 40 |
| i_ElvFlg | Elevation definition flag (view byte structure) | 4888 | i1b(40) | 40 |
| i_rng_UQF | Range offset quality/use flag (view byte structure) | 4928 | i2b(40) | 80 |
| i_spare49 | Spare 49 | 5008 | i1b(10) | 10 |
| i_timecorflg | Time correction flag (view byte structure) | 5018 | i2b | 2 |
| i_APID_AvFlg | APID data availability flag (view byte structure) | 5020 | i1b(8) | 8 |
| i_AttFlg2 | Attitude flag 2 (view byte structure) | 5028 | i1b(20) | 20 |
| i_spare5 | Spares | 5048 | i1b | 1 |
| i_FrameQF | Altimeter frame quality flag (view byte structure) | 5049 | i1b | 1 |
| i_OrbFlg | POD flag (orbit flag) (view byte structure) | 5050 | i1b(2) | 2 |
| i_rngCorrFlg | Range correction flag (view byte structure) | 5052 | i1b(2) | 2 |
| i_CorrStatFlg | Correction status flag (view byte structure) | 5054 | i1b(2) | 2 |
| i_spare15 | Spare 15 | 5056 | i1b(8) | 8 |
| i_AttFlg1 | Attitude flag 1 (view byte structure) | 5064 | i2b | 2 |
| i_Spare6 | Spares | 5066 | i1b(2) | 2 |
| i_spare44 | Spare 44 | 5068 | i1b (120) | 120 |
| i_satNdx | Saturation Index | 5188 | i1b (40) | 40 |
| i_satElevCorr | Saturation Elevation Correction | 5228 | i2b (40) | 80 |
| i_satCorrFlg | Saturation Correction Flag (view byte structure) | 5308 | i1b (40) | 40 |
| i_satNrgCorr | Saturation Energy Correction | 5348 | i2b (40) | 80 |
| i_spare13 | Spares | 5428 | i2b (40) | 80 |
| i_gval_rcv | Gain Value used for Received Pulse | 5508 | i2b (40) | 80 |
| i_RecNrgAll | Received Energy signal begin to signal end | 5588 | i2b (40) | 80 |
| i_FRir_cldtop | Full Resolution 1064 Cloud Top | 5668 | i2b (40) | 80 |
| i_FRir_qaFlag | Full Resolution 1064 Quality Flag (view byte structure) | 5748 | i1b (40) | 40 |
| i_atm_char_flag | Atmosphere Characterization Flag | 6068 | i2b | 2 | i_atm_char_conf | Atmosphere Characterization Flag Confidence | 6070 | i2b | 2 | i_spare48 | Spare 48 | 6072 | i1b(36) | 36 |
| i_FRir_intsig | Full Resolution 1064 Integrated Signal | 5828 | i2b (40) | 80 |
| i_spare14 | Spares | 5908 | i1b (120) | 120 |
| i_Surface_temp | Surface Temperature | 6028 | i2b | 2 |
| i_Surface_pres | Surface Pressure | 6030 | i2b | 2 |
| i_Surface_relh | Relative Humidity | 6032 | i2b | 2 |
| i_maxRecAmp | Max Amplitude of Received Echo | 6034 | i2b (40) | 80 |
| i_sDevNsOb1 | Standard deviation of 1064 nm background noise (alternate) | 6114 | i2b (40) | 80 |
| i_pctSAT | Percent Saturation | 6194 | i1b (40) | 40 |
| i_TxNrg | 1064 nm laser transmit energy | 6234 | i2b (40) | 80 |
| i_eqElv | Equilibrium tide elevation (at first and last shot) | 6314 | i2b (2) | 4 |
| i_spare7 | Spares | 6318 | i1b (282) | 282 |
