GLAS/ICESat L1B Global Waveform-based Range Corrections Data, Version 33

Data Contributors ZWALLY, H. JAY SCHUTZ, ROBERT BENTLEY, CHARLES BUFTON, JACK HERRING, THOMAS MINSTER, JEAN-BERNARD SPINHIRNE, JAMES THOMAS, ROBERT Parameters GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS > GLACIER ELEVATION/ICE SHEET ELEVATION GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS > GLACIER TOPOGRAPHY/ICE SHEET TOPOGRAPHY GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS > ICE SHEETS TOPOGRAPHY > TERRAIN ELEVATION Instruments ALTIMETERS GLAS : GEOSCIENCE LASER ALTIMETER SYSTEM

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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-1B waveform parameterization data (GLA05) include output parameters from the waveform characterization procedure and other parameters required to calculate surface slope and relief characteristics.

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.

Version 33 Summary

For information about Version 33, see the NSIDC ICESat Description of Data Releases page.

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Data Citation

The following example shows how to cite the use of this data set in a publication. For more information, see our Use and Copyright Web page.

Zwally, H., R. Schutz, C. Bentley, J. Bufton, T. Herring, J. Minster, J. Spinhirne, and R. Thomas. 2011. GLAS/ICESat L1B Global Waveform-based Range Corrections Data. Version 33. [indicate subset used]. Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center.

See Also

• ICESat/GLAS web site at NASA Wallops Flight Facility
• ICESat/GLAS web site at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• ICESat/GLAS web site at University of Texas
• ICESat/GLAS Data at NSIDC
• Polar Ice Sheet DEMs and Elevation Data
• Contact User Services