• NSIDC DAAC is currently upgrading our data ingest process for NASA Earthdata Cloud. During this transition, users may notice temporary interruptions in data availability or notice small data gaps. All gaps will be resolved as quickly as possible. During this upgrade jpeg browse imagery will also not be available for preview in Earthdata search. Please reach out to NSIDC User Services with any questions or concerns.

  • Isolated portions of ICESat-2 Release 7 data are affected by 1) gaps in instrument pointing estimates and 2) degraded orbit/pointing solutions around spacecraft maneuvers. These issues can cause large errors in photon geolocation and heights. Please refer to the ICESat-2 Technical References Table for a list of impacted dates/times and granules, and use caution when using these data. Note that the issues are being addressed, and the degraded files will be replaced.

ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Calibrated Backscatter Profiles and Atmospheric Layer Characteristics, Version 7
Data set id:
ATL09
DOI: 10.5067/ATLAS/ATL09.007
This is the most recent version of these data.
Version Summary
- Addition of a new L3A cloud folding algorithm to better detect and flag instances when clouds above 15 km are folded down to the lower few km of the profile
- Detection and flagging of layers that are wholly below ground and thus folded
- Detection and flagging of folded layers that straddle ground
- Setting the layer_attr parameter to a value of 11 when a layer is determined to be folded from above 15 km
- Changes to the structure of the layer detection algorithm (DDA) to enable execution of N passes of the DDA
- Improved thin layer detection

Overview

ATL09 contains calibrated, attenuated backscatter profiles (CAB), layer-integrated attenuated backscatter, blowing snow, and other parameters including cloud and aerosol layer height and atmospheric characteristics. The data were acquired by the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) instrument on board the ICESat-2 observatory.
Parameter(s):
CLOUD PROPERTIES
LIDAR BACKSCATTER
Platform(s):
ICESat-2
Sensor(s):
ATLAS
Data Format(s):
HDF5
Temporal Coverage:
  • 13 October 2018 to present
Temporal Resolution:
  • 91 day
Spatial Resolution:
  • Not Specified
Spatial Reference System(s):
  • WGS 84
    EPSG:4326
Spatial Coverage:
  • N:
    88
    S:
    -88
    E:
    180
    W:
    -180
Blue outlined yellow areas on the map below indicate the spatial coverage for this data set.

Data Access & Tools

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

Help Articles

General Questions & FAQs

This article covers frequently asked questions about the NASA NSIDC DAAC's Earthdata cloud migration project and what it means to data users.
This short article describes the customization services available for ICESat-2 data using Earthdata Search.

How to Articles

Many NSIDC DAAC data sets can be accessed using NSIDC DAAC's Data Access Tool. This tool provides the ability to search and filter data with spatial and temporal constraints using a map-based interface.Users have the option to:
This quickstart guide will walk you through the essential steps to start using the Harmony API to request subsetted files with specific spatial and temporal filters applied for select data sets.
To convert HDF5 files into binary format you will need to use the h5dump utility, which is part of the HDF5 distribution available from the HDF Group. How you install HDF5 depends on your operating system.
This guide will provide an overview of the altimetry measurements and data sets across the missions, as well as a guide for accessing the data through NASA Earthdata Search and programmatically using an Application Programming Interface (API).
The NASA Earthdata Cloud is the NASA cloud-based archive of Earth observations. It is hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Learn how to find and access NSIDC DAAC data directly in the cloud.
This article highlights the NSIDC DAAC data sets available with customization options and outlines a workflow for searching, ordering, and customizing data in NASA Earthdata Search. This approach is ideal for users who want to download data to their local machine.