National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
ICESat/GLAS Altimetry Data Now Available
For further information, please go to:
http://nsidc.org/data/icesat/
or contact NSIDC User Services:
(nsidc [at] nsidc.org)
Dear Colleague,
New and improved ICESat/GLAS altimetry data are now available from the
National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). As of 7 April 2004,
Release-13 data are available for GLA01 (level-1a altimetry), and
Release-14 data are available for GLA05 (level-1b waveform corrections),
GLA06 (level-1b elevation), and GLA12-15 (level-2 ice sheet, sea ice,
land surface, and ocean altimetry) for the following time period:
Start Date: 15 October 2003
Stop Date: 18 November 2003 (19 November for GLA01)
These new versions of data have significantly improved calibration. They
are available through the Earth Observing System (EOS) Data Gateway
(EDG) and the NSIDC Data Pool. More details regarding these data, their
improvements and limitations, reference orbital tracks, software tools,
and ordering information are available at the following web site:
These products have not been fully calibrated, and certain limitations
in accuracy and definition remain. Improvements continue and will be
reflected in future data releases. Users are asked to report their
findings about data quality to NSIDC User Services (nsidc [at] nsidc.org), to
be forwarded to the ICESat/GLAS Science Team, for information and
comment before publication or reporting elsewhere.
New software tools for visualizing ICESat data and for extracting the
data from binary into ASCII format are also available at the above web
site. These tools require the Interactive Data Language (IDL) and run on
all platforms. Users must have IDL 5.5 or higher to run the visualizer.
Please contact the NSIDC if you have any questions. New and improved
ICESat atmospheric data are expected in the coming months.
Regards,
John Maurer
NSIDC User Services
CIRES 449 UCB
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0449
Phone: 303-492-6199
E-mail: (nsidc [at] nsidc.org)