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Affiliation: Code 614.1 / Cryospheric Sciences Branch
Event Date: Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Location: GSFC, Building 33, Room A128
Time: 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Ice Sheet Elevations from ICESat 2003-2005
Since first light in early 2003, NASA's Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) has enabled determination of surface elevations from ~86N to 86S latitude. Altimetry data are acquired in a discrete series of observation periods in repeated track patterns using all three Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) lasers. This paper will focus on ice sheet elevation data that were obtained from 2003 into 2005; data acquisition continues. This paper illustrates the elevations across both polar regions, quantifies the relative accuracy and precision of the resulting ice sheet elevations using data from Antarctica, and discusses some factors impacting change detection and ice sheet mass balance assessments from this data. Currently, the relative accuracy of ICESat elevations is about 16 cm based on the standard deviation of low-slope crossover differences and its precision is nearly 2 cm using Laser 2a, Release 21, GLA12 data.
Posted or updated: Monday, August 29, 2005
Editor: Paul Przyborski
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