Lidar measurements of thin cloud and aerosol optical depths collected by the GLAS instrument on the ICESat satellite. The data is provided by the NSIDC CPRD organization and was last updated in October 2009. Each granule contains optical depth values for atmospheric features that do not completely attenuate the lidar signal.
Use Cases
- Analyzing thin cloud optical depth values to study cloud radiative effects.
- Tracking aerosol optical depth measurements to model atmospheric particulate distribution.
- Correlating optical depth data with other satellite observations for atmospheric composition studies.
- Using the browse product for quick visual assessment of data granule quality.
Strengths
- Data is derived from the GLAS lidar instrument, a precise measurement tool.
- Focuses on thin clouds with optical depths less than about 2.0, a specific atmospheric condition.
- Each data granule has an associated browse product for visualization.
Limitations
- Data was last updated in 2009, making it temporally stale for current climate studies.
- Specific row count, column details, and geographic coverage are unknown.
- The dataset only covers optical depths for thin clouds, excluding thicker cloud formations.
Provenance
- Source
- NSIDC_CPRD
- Collection Method
- Satellite lidar measurements from the GLAS instrument on ICESat.
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Global