GLAS/ICESat L1A Global Altimetry Data, Version 18
Data set id:
GLA01
DOI: 10.5067/17XKTHV41CEI
There is a more recent version of these data.
Overview
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-1A altimetry data (GLA01) include the transmitted and received waveform from the altimeter.
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.
Parameter(s):
WAVEFORM
Platform(s):
ICESat
Sensor(s):
ALTIMETERS, GLAS
Data Format(s):
Binary
Temporal Coverage:
13 January 2003 to 13 January 2010
Temporal Resolution:
Not Specified
Spatial Resolution:
- Not Specified
Spatial Coverage:
N:
86
S:
-86
E:
180
W:
-180
Blue outlined yellow areas on the map below indicate the spatial coverage for this data set.
Data Access & Tools
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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