ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Land Ice Height, Version 3
Data set id:
ATL06
DOI: 10.5067/ATLAS/ATL06.003
There is a more recent version of these data.
Version Summary
Version Summary
Changes for this version include:
- ATL09 pass-through data (cloud flag parameters) are now being written to ATL06 (gt[x]/land_ice_segments/geophysical/layer_flag). Note that if two flags intersect an ATL06 segment, the higher flag value is used. The layer_flag parameter is important for predicting forward scattering.
- The large DEMs previously used by ATL06 are no longer required inputs. If they are provided in the processing control file, the values are queried as in previous releases; if the DEMs are not provided in the control file, DEM values from ATL03 are used.
- Molecular transmission used to compute effective background is now being read from ATL09. Prior versions used a default value.
- Added radial orbit error as gt[x]/land_ice_segments/ground_track/sigma_geo_r (parameter sigma_h from ATL03).
- ATL03 data flagged with non-zero values in podppd_flag are no longer processed for ATL06. This criteria ensures that land ice data are created only from ATL03 data that are accurately geolocated and eliminates most ATL06 data that in prior versions contained substantial correlated errors.
- Changed the residual histograms to range from -50m to +50m with varying bin sizes. Residual histogram bins that are not fully encompassed by at least one of the two possible telemetry band range windows are marked as invalid. These larger histograms encompass the full potential vertical range of forward-scattering returns below the surface and allow sampling of backscatter from blowing snow above the surface.
- Corrected the long names for sigma_geo_at and sigma_geo_xt in the ATL06 file metadata.
- Residual histograms are centered on h_mean instead of h_li. Centering the histogram on the mean, rather than the median, yields a better representation of the segment-to-segment statistics for the residuals.
Overview
This data set (ATL06) provides geolocated, land-ice surface heights (above the WGS 84 ellipsoid, ITRF2014 reference frame), plus ancillary parameters that can be used to interpret and assess the quality of the height estimates. The data were acquired by the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) instrument on board the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) observatory.
Parameter(s):
GLACIER ELEVATION/ICE SHEET ELEVATION
Platform(s):
ICESat-2
Sensor(s):
ATLAS
Data Format(s):
HDF5
Temporal Coverage:
14 October 2018 to 11 November 2020
Temporal Resolution:
- 91 day
Spatial Resolution:
- Not Specified
Spatial Reference System(s):
WGS 84
EPSG:4326
Spatial Coverage:
N:
90
S:
-90
E:
180
W:
-180
Blue outlined yellow areas on the map below indicate the spatial coverage for this data set.
Data Access & Tools
This data set has been retired. There is a more recent version of these data.
Documentation
User Guide
ATBDs
General Resources
Product Specification Documents
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 the 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
Harmony API Quickstart Guide: Customizing NASA NSIDC DAAC data in Earthdata Cloud
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.
Learn the basic steps for using OpenAltimetry to browse and download ICESat-2 data products.
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.
All data from the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) is directly accessible through our HTTPS file system using Wget or curl. This article provides basic command line instructions for accessing data using this method.
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.
This webinar introduces the ICESat-2 mission and shows you how to explore, access and customize ICESat-2 data with the OpenAltimetry application, using NSIDC DAAC tools, and shows you how to subset, reformat and analyze the data using Python.