ICESat/GLAS Standard Data Products

The Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) mission will measure changes in elevation of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets as part of NASA?s Earth Observing System (EOS) of satellites. The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) on ICESat 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. The GLAS standard data products (SDP) are produced by the ICESat Science Investigator-led Processing System (I-SIPS) located at the Goddard Space Flight Facility. The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) will distribute the SDPs to the general user community. There are sixteen defined SDPs related to measurement of elevations, cloud heights, vertical structure of clouds and aerosols, vegetation canopy heights; and measurements of sea ice roughness, sea ice thickness, ocean surface elevations, and surface reflectivity. The level 1 and 2 SDPs contain time ordered data stored in 15 separate products in binary integer format in direct access records. There is one defined level 3 HDF_EOS formatted product. The SDP granules vary from a quarter orbit to 14 orbits each. Examples of the main parameters for each product will be presented. Specific details of each product can be obtained from NSIDC or /glas.wff.nasa.gov under data products.