IceBridge Aircraft GPS and IMU Data for Glacier Lidar Campaigns

GPS and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) positioning and orientation data were collected during Operation IceBridge funded aircraft surveys over glaciers. The dataset provides corrected Level 1B measurements from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Glacier lidar system campaigns. It is produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Use Cases

• Calibrating airborne lidar point clouds using precise aircraft position and attitude measurements.
• Analyzing aircraft flight trajectories for repeat-pass glacier elevation change studies.
• Validating sensor orientation and platform stability during geophysical survey campaigns.
• Supporting the generation of corrected geolocated products from the UAF Glacier lidar system.

Strengths

• Data originates from the authoritative NASA Operation IceBridge mission, a major airborne survey campaign.
• Provides corrected Level 1B (L1B) data, indicating a processed and quality-controlled product.

Limitations

• Critical metadata such as column names, row counts, and file size are not provided on any platform.
• A significant conflict exists on the last updated date: datagov lists 2026-03-13, while nasa_earthdata lists 2011-09-12.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF).

Collection Method

Collected via aircraft-mounted GPS and IMU sensors during Operation IceBridge survey campaigns.

Time Range

null

Freshness

2026-03-13 (datagov), with a conflicting report of 2011-09-12 (nasa_earthdata).

Geography

Glacier regions surveyed by Operation IceBridge aircraft campaigns.