ICESat-2 Atmospheric Backscatter Profiles at 532 Nanometers

Normalized relative backscatter profiles of the atmosphere measured by the ATLAS instrument on the ICESat-2 satellite. The product includes full 14 km tall uncalibrated attenuated backscatter profiles at 532 nm, sampled at 25 times per second with vertical bins of approximately 30 meters. Data were produced by the NSIDC CPRD from the NASA ICESat-2 mission.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical structure of aerosols and clouds using the 532 nm normalized relative backscatter profiles.
• Calibrating atmospheric models with the included calibration coefficients derived from data between 13.5 and 11 km above the surface.
• Studying atmospheric dynamics through high-temporal-resolution (25 Hz) along-track profiles.
• Characterizing signal attenuation in the atmospheric column using the uncalibrated attenuated backscatter data.

Strengths

• High vertical resolution with profiles binned at approximately 30 meters.
• High temporal sampling of atmospheric profiles at 25 times per second along-track.
• Includes calibration coefficients derived from a specific atmospheric reference layer (13.5-11 km).

Limitations

• Specific row count, geographic coverage, and temporal range are not provided in the input.
• Data is uncalibrated for the full profile, requiring use of provided coefficients.
• Limited to a single wavelength (532 nm) for atmospheric backscatter.

Provenance

Source

NASA ICESat-2 mission, ATLAS instrument, processed by NSIDC CPRD.

Collection Method

Satellite-based lidar measurements from the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS).

Geography

Global coverage along ICESat-2's orbital ground tracks.