How do you extract elevation from GLAS HDF5 altimetry data to text format

The instructions below will describe how to extract elevation in text format from GLAS HDF5 Altimetry data using the free open source tool HDFView. The following example was created using GLAS/ICESat L1B Global Elevation Data, Version 34 (GLAH06), but this method can be applied to the other GLAS HDF5 Altimetry data as well.

Data format: HDF5

Software: HDFView version 3.1.0

Operating System/Playform: Windows/PC (not tested on macOS)

Procedure:

1. Open HDFView and open the data file

2. View the elevation values

3. Export the data values to a text file (.txt)

4. Check the chosen location to see that the exported d_elev.txt file saved

Last Updated: 25 March 2020