ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Land and Vegetation Height, Version 4
Data set id:
ATL08
DOI: 10.5067/ATLAS/ATL08.004
There is a more recent version of these data.
Version Summary
Version Summary
Changes for this version include:
- Used PPD flag of ATL03, degraded POD/PPD solutions were flagged and ignored in the ATL08 algorithm.
- To reduce the amount of cloud contamination in the ATL08 signal photons, all photons from 120 m or more above the reference DEM are considered clouds.
- Added a saturation flag to the ATL08 data product that is based on the ATL03 saturation flags. The ATL08 saturation flag indicates that a segment within 100 m is saturated –likely due to water.
- Included a ph_h parameter to the photon group reflecting the height of each photon above the estimated ground surface.
- Changed calculation of absolute canopy heights and height metrics.
- Expanded the canopy height metrics to every 5% ranging from 5 – 95%.
- Removed the Landsat canopy cover check in the algorithm as this check was preventing canopy from being detected in areas with low canopy cover (e.g. savannas) even though reflected photons from woody vegetation are observed at the photon level.
- Changed the search radius parameter from 15 m to 100 m for the initial top of canopy determination in an effort to pull in more, previously missed, top of canopy photons.
- Incorporated the quality_ph flag of the ATL03 product which should exclude many after-pulsing events from the ATL08 algorithm. The after-pulsing events are due to detector saturation and other detector events and over land they occur over water bodies such as wetlands, rivers, etc. This should result in a more accurate surface representation particularly for wetlands where standing water is often found.
- Added the calculation of the photon rates for terrain and canopy points. The addition of these parameters will improve future radiometry studies.
Overview
This data set (ATL08) contains along-track heights above the WGS84 ellipsoid (ITRF2014 reference frame) for the ground and canopy surfaces. The canopy and ground surfaces are processed in fixed 100 m data segments, which typically contain more than 100 signal photons. 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):
CANOPY HEIGHTTERRAIN ELEVATION
Platform(s):
ICESat-2
Sensor(s):
ATLAS
Data Format(s):
HDF5
Temporal Coverage:
14 October 2018 to 15 July 2021
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.