ICESat-2 Sea Ice Freeboard Measurements from ATLAS Instrument

ATL10 data contains along-track sea ice freeboard calculated for 10 km swath segments. The measurements were acquired by the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) instrument on the ICESat-2 satellite observatory. The data is provided by the NSIDC_CPRD organization.

Use Cases

• Analyzing temporal trends in sea ice freeboard to study climate change impacts.
• Validating sea ice thickness models using satellite-derived freeboard measurements.
• Correlating freeboard data with other geophysical variables like sea surface temperature or wind speed.

Strengths

• Data derived from the ATLAS instrument, a state-of-the-art spaceborne lidar system.
• Measurements are provided for 10 km along-track segments, offering spatial continuity.

Limitations

• Specific data volume, temporal coverage, and spatial resolution details are not provided.
• The description lacks information on data quality flags, uncertainty estimates, or validation status.

Provenance

Source

NSIDC_CPRD (NASA's National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center).

Collection Method

Acquired by the ATLAS laser altimeter instrument on board the ICESat-2 satellite.

Geography

Global coverage over sea ice regions.