NSF COLDEX 2022-23: Antarctic Ice Surface Elevation from Airborne Laser Altimetry

Antarctic ice surface elevation data collected during the 2022-23 NSF COLDEX airborne campaign targeting Dome A's southern flank. The Level 2 product provides geolocated surface elevation triplets derived from a Riegl laser altimeter and aircraft positioning. Data were processed by Duncan A. Young and published via the Texas Data Repository.

Use Cases

• Modeling ice flow dynamics based on surface elevation constraints mentioned in the description
• Validating and comparing digital terrain models based on the reported median bias and RMS difference statistics
• Analyzing geospatial ice surface profiles based on longitude, latitude, and elevation columns
• Studying temporal changes in ice elevation based on the year, day of year, and second of day fields

Strengths

• High precision indicated by a reported median bias of 17 cm and RMS difference of 20 cm compared to a reference model
• Internal consistency shown by an RMS difference of 6.4 cm at profile intersections on the Antarctic Plateau
• Detailed metadata includes pointing biases, lever arm offsets, and positioning system specifications

Limitations

• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Some cloud filtering was performed, which may introduce gaps in coverage

Provenance

Source

Texas Data Repository Harvested Dataverse

Collection Method

Airborne laser altimetry collected during the NSF COLDEX CXA1 campaign, with data processed from laser range and aircraft position.

Time Range

2022-2023

Freshness

Last updated 2025-10-15 03:39:53; freshness should be verified

Geography

Southern flank of East Antarctica's Dome A