ICESat‐2 Atmospheric Channel Description, Data Processing and First Results
Abstract The Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) was launched aboard the Ice Cloud and land‐Elevation Satellite‐2 (ICESat‐2) satellite in September 2018. ATLAS is a single wavelength (532 nm) lidar system designed to acquire high resolution measurements of the earth's surface wh...
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doaj-bde24b9e139b4f129ade650f45a9dd192021-08-27T12:25:43ZengAmerican Geophysical Union (AGU)Earth and Space Science2333-50842021-08-0188n/an/a10.1029/2020EA001470ICESat‐2 Atmospheric Channel Description, Data Processing and First ResultsStephen P. Palm0Yuekui Yang1Ute Herzfeld2David Hancock3Adam Hayes4Patrick Selmer5William Hart6Dennis Hlavka7Science Systems and Applications, Inc. Lanham MD USANASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt MD USAUniversity of Colorado Boulder CO USAScience Systems and Applications, Inc. Lanham MD USAUniversity of Colorado Boulder CO USAScience Systems and Applications, Inc. Lanham MD USAScience Systems and Applications, Inc. Lanham MD USAScience Systems and Applications, Inc. Lanham MD USAAbstract The Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) was launched aboard the Ice Cloud and land‐Elevation Satellite‐2 (ICESat‐2) satellite in September 2018. ATLAS is a single wavelength (532 nm) lidar system designed to acquire high resolution measurements of the earth's surface while also obtaining atmospheric backscatter from molecules, clouds, and aerosols. Because ATLAS is optimized for altimetry, the atmospheric data acquired is unique in many respects and requires non‐standard analysis techniques. For example, the high repetition rate laser limits the vertical extent of the profiles to just 14 km and causes atmospheric scattering from above 15 km to be added to the scattering in the lower 0–14 km profile. In addition, the limited vertical range of the acquired profiles renders it difficult to compute the magnitude of the solar background and hinders the application of standard calibration techniques. Despite these limitations, methods have been developed to successfully produce data products that have value to the atmospheric community for cloud and aerosol research and are currently available at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). In this paper we describe the ICESat‐2 atmospheric channel and the methods used to process the ATLAS raw photon count data to obtain calibrated backscatter and higher level products such as layer heights and type, blowing snow, column optical depth and apparent surface reflectance.https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EA001470lidarICESat‐2atmospherecloudsaerosols |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Stephen P. Palm Yuekui Yang Ute Herzfeld David Hancock Adam Hayes Patrick Selmer William Hart Dennis Hlavka |
spellingShingle |
Stephen P. Palm Yuekui Yang Ute Herzfeld David Hancock Adam Hayes Patrick Selmer William Hart Dennis Hlavka ICESat‐2 Atmospheric Channel Description, Data Processing and First Results Earth and Space Science lidar ICESat‐2 atmosphere clouds aerosols |
author_facet |
Stephen P. Palm Yuekui Yang Ute Herzfeld David Hancock Adam Hayes Patrick Selmer William Hart Dennis Hlavka |
author_sort |
Stephen P. Palm |
title |
ICESat‐2 Atmospheric Channel Description, Data Processing and First Results |
title_short |
ICESat‐2 Atmospheric Channel Description, Data Processing and First Results |
title_full |
ICESat‐2 Atmospheric Channel Description, Data Processing and First Results |
title_fullStr |
ICESat‐2 Atmospheric Channel Description, Data Processing and First Results |
title_full_unstemmed |
ICESat‐2 Atmospheric Channel Description, Data Processing and First Results |
title_sort |
icesat‐2 atmospheric channel description, data processing and first results |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
series |
Earth and Space Science |
issn |
2333-5084 |
publishDate |
2021-08-01 |
description |
Abstract The Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) was launched aboard the Ice Cloud and land‐Elevation Satellite‐2 (ICESat‐2) satellite in September 2018. ATLAS is a single wavelength (532 nm) lidar system designed to acquire high resolution measurements of the earth's surface while also obtaining atmospheric backscatter from molecules, clouds, and aerosols. Because ATLAS is optimized for altimetry, the atmospheric data acquired is unique in many respects and requires non‐standard analysis techniques. For example, the high repetition rate laser limits the vertical extent of the profiles to just 14 km and causes atmospheric scattering from above 15 km to be added to the scattering in the lower 0–14 km profile. In addition, the limited vertical range of the acquired profiles renders it difficult to compute the magnitude of the solar background and hinders the application of standard calibration techniques. Despite these limitations, methods have been developed to successfully produce data products that have value to the atmospheric community for cloud and aerosol research and are currently available at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). In this paper we describe the ICESat‐2 atmospheric channel and the methods used to process the ATLAS raw photon count data to obtain calibrated backscatter and higher level products such as layer heights and type, blowing snow, column optical depth and apparent surface reflectance. |
topic |
lidar ICESat‐2 atmosphere clouds aerosols |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EA001470 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT stephenppalm icesat2atmosphericchanneldescriptiondataprocessingandfirstresults AT yuekuiyang icesat2atmosphericchanneldescriptiondataprocessingandfirstresults AT uteherzfeld icesat2atmosphericchanneldescriptiondataprocessingandfirstresults AT davidhancock icesat2atmosphericchanneldescriptiondataprocessingandfirstresults AT adamhayes icesat2atmosphericchanneldescriptiondataprocessingandfirstresults AT patrickselmer icesat2atmosphericchanneldescriptiondataprocessingandfirstresults AT williamhart icesat2atmosphericchanneldescriptiondataprocessingandfirstresults AT dennishlavka icesat2atmosphericchanneldescriptiondataprocessingandfirstresults |
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