GEOSAT Antarctic Digital Elevation Atlas North of 72.1 Degrees South

NSIDCV0's Antarctic atlas provides 28 digital elevation maps covering the continent north of 72.1 degrees south at a 3-kilometer resolution. Data were acquired by the GEOSAT Geodetic Mission from March 1985 through September 1986, using a geostatistical mapping technique to improve surface elevation accuracy. This dataset facilitates monitoring of elevation changes that could indicate mass balance shifts in the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Use Cases

• Monitoring changes in surface elevation of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to infer mass balance.
• Analyzing detailed topographic features, especially along the margin of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.
• Providing a historical baseline (1985-1986) for comparing modern satellite elevation measurements.
• Creating contour maps and terrain models using UTM or latitude/longitude coordinate systems.
• Studying surface roughness and terrain elevation for geophysical and glaciological modeling.

Strengths

• Covers all of Antarctica north of 72.1°S with 28 contiguous map pages, providing continent-wide coverage.
• Uses a geostatistical mapping technique (Herzfeld et al. 1993) that improved accuracy over previous GEOSAT elevation datasets.
• Data is provided in both UTM and latitude/longitude coordinates, with UTM projection minimizing polar distortion.
• Offers a 3-kilometer resolution, showing ice sheet features in more detail than previous digital elevation models.

Limitations

• Conflicting last updated dates exist between platforms (1986-09 vs. 2026-03), creating uncertainty about metadata freshness.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and detailed column names are not provided by any source.
• Spatial coverage excludes the region south of 72.1 degrees south latitude.

Provenance

Source

NSIDCV0 (National Snow and Ice Data Center V0).

Collection Method

Data acquired by the Geodetic Satellite (GEOSAT) Geodetic Mission radar altimeter.

Time Range

March 1985 through September 1986.

Freshness

Data acquisition ended in September 1986. A metadata record shows an update date of 2026-03-13, but this may refer to catalog entry maintenance.

Geography

All of Antarctica north of 72.1 degrees south latitude.