ICESat's laser measurements of polar ice, atmosphere, ocean, and land

Zwally, H. Jay; Schutz, B. E.; Abdalati, W.; Abshire, James B.; Bentley, Charles R.; Brenner, Anita C.; Bufton, Jack L.; Dezio, Joseph A.; Hancock, D. W.; Harding, David J.; Herring, T. A.; Minster, B.; Quinn, Katherine J.; Palm, Stephen P.; Spinhirne, James D.; Thomas, Robert H.

doi:10.1016/s0264-3707(02)00042-x

Cited by 879 publications

(594 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…In 2003, the NASA Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) was launched with the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) acquiring elevation measurements in a 40-70 m elliptical footprint every 170 m (Zwally et al, 2002). ICESat obtained global coverage of elevations along profiles with a denser track sampling in the arctic due to the polar orbit.…”

Section: Ices At Lidar Profilesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) flown in February 2000 provided continuous elevation data using interferometric SAR (InSAR) techniques (Farr et al, 2007). However, arctic coverage is limited since the mission only acquired data between 60 • N and 56 • S. The ICESat mission from 2003 to 2009 created the second nearly global dataset using space-borne Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) (Zwally et al, 2002). The data are spatially limited to profiles of points rather than a continuous DEM, and arctic coverage is denser than at mid and low latitudes due to the polar orbiting strategy of the satellite.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Co-registration and bias corrections of satellite elevation data sets for quantifying glacier thickness change

2011

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Abstract.There are an increasing number of digital elevation models (DEMs) available worldwide for deriving elevation differences over time, including vertical changes on glaciers. Most of these DEMs are heavily post-processed or merged, so that physical error modelling becomes difficult and statistical error modelling is required instead. We propose a three-step methodological framework for assessing and correcting DEMs to quantify glacier elevation changes: (i) remove DEM shifts, (ii) check for elevation-dependent biases, and (iii) check for higher-order, sensor-specific biases. A simple, analytic and robust method to co-register elevation data is presented in regions where stable terrain is either plentiful (case study New Zealand) or limited (case study Svalbard). The method is demonstrated using the three global elevation data sets available to date, SRTM, ICESat and the ASTER GDEM, and with automatically generated DEMs from satellite stereo instruments of ASTER and SPOT5-HRS. After 3-D co-registration, significant biases related to elevation were found in some of the stereoscopic DEMs. Biases related to the satellite acquisition geometry (along/cross track) were detected at two frequencies in the automatically generated ASTER DEMs. The higher frequency bias seems to be related to satellite jitter, most apparent in the backlooking pass of the satellite. The origins of the more significant lower frequency bias is uncertain. ICESat-derived elevations are found to be the most consistent globally available elevation data set available so far. Before performing regional-scale glacier elevation change studies or mosaicking DEMs from multiple individual tiles (e.g. ASTER GDEM), we recommend to co-register all elevation data to ICESat as a global vertical reference system.

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Section: Ices At Lidar Profilesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-registration and bias corrections of satellite elevation data sets for quantifying glacier thickness change

2011

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“…[23] The SRTM DEM was evaluated against ICESat data obtained from the National Snow and Ice Data Center [Zwally et al, 2002]. We used GLAS release 28 (GLA14 Figure 5a).…”

Section: Srtm Dem and Icesat Elevation Profilesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ice wastage on the Kerguelen Islands (49°S, 69°E) between 1963 and 2006

Berthier¹,

Bris²,

Mabileau³

et al. 2009

J. Geophys. Res.

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International audienceWe observed the wastage of ice masses on the Kerguelen Islands (Indian Ocean, 49°S, 69°E) using historical information and recent satellite data. Overall, the total ice-covered area on the islands declined from 703 to 552 km2 between 1963 and 2001, a reduction of 21%. The area of Cook ice cap (the main ice body) decreased asymmetrically from 501 to 403 km2. West-flowing glaciers lost 11% of their area while east-flowing glaciers lost 28%. After 1991, the retreat rate accelerated from 1.9 km2/yr (1963-1991) to 3.8 km2/yr (1991-2003). Between 1963 and 2000, the ice volume loss was 25-30 km3, equivalent to an area-average ice thinning rate of 1.4-1.7 m/yr. The glacial retreat took place in the climatic context of a relatively low level of precipitation (compared to the 1950s) and a ~1°C warming that occurred between 1964 and 1982. The acceleration of the ice losses since, at least, the 1990s indicates that the state of the ice bodies on the Kerguelen Islands is still far from balanced. Together with other studies in Patagonia, South Georgia and Heard Island, our analysis is consistent with a pattern of strong and accelerated wastage of ice masses influenced by the Southern Ocean

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“…However, maps of arctic terrain are difficult to create. The best source is from NASA's ICESat satellite, which uses a laser scanner to map the terrain from space (Zwally, Schutz, Abdalati, et al, 2002). However, the ultimate precision of the data collected is coarse compared to the scale of a rover, with elevation data acquired from a 70-m-diameter area every 165 m along the satellite path.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing monocular visual pose estimation for arctic environments

Williams

Howard

2009

Journal of Field Robotics

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Arctic regions present one of the harshest environments on Earth for people or mobile robots, yet many important scientific studies, particularly those involving climate change, require measurements from these areas. For the successful deployment of mobile sensors in the Arctic, a high-quality localization system is required. Although a global positioning system can provide coarse positioning (within several meters), it cannot provide any orientation information. A single-camera-pose-estimation system is presented, based on visual odometry techniques, which is capable of operating in the feature-poor environments of the Arctic. To validate the system, a prototype rover was developed and fielded on a glacier in Alaska. The resulting pose estimates compare favorably to values obtained by hand registering the same video sequence. Although pose errors do accumulate over time, these errors are typical of a standard odometry system but obtained in an environment where standard odometry is not practical. C 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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ICESat's laser measurements of polar ice, atmosphere, ocean, and land

Cited by 879 publications

References 61 publications

Co-registration and bias corrections of satellite elevation data sets for quantifying glacier thickness change

Co-registration and bias corrections of satellite elevation data sets for quantifying glacier thickness change

Ice wastage on the Kerguelen Islands (49°S, 69°E) between 1963 and 2006

Developing monocular visual pose estimation for arctic environments

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