ICESat‐2 Atmospheric Channel Description, Data Processing and First Results

Earth and Space Science

Yuekui Yang¹  William Hart²  David Hancock²  Patrick Selmer²  Dennis Hlavka²  Stephen P. Palm²  Adam Hayes³  Ute Herzfeld³ 

[1] NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt MD USA;Science Systems and Applications, Inc. Lanham MD USA;University of Colorado Boulder CO USA;

关键词: lidar;    ICESat‐2;    atmosphere;    clouds;    aerosols;   

DOI  :  10.1029/2020EA001470

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract The Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) was launched aboard the Ice Cloud and land‐Elevation Satellite‐2 (ICESat‐2) satellite in September 2018. ATLAS is a single wavelength (532 nm) lidar system designed to acquire high resolution measurements of the earth's surface while also obtaining atmospheric backscatter from molecules, clouds, and aerosols. Because ATLAS is optimized for altimetry, the atmospheric data acquired is unique in many respects and requires non‐standard analysis techniques. For example, the high repetition rate laser limits the vertical extent of the profiles to just 14 km and causes atmospheric scattering from above 15 km to be added to the scattering in the lower 0–14 km profile. In addition, the limited vertical range of the acquired profiles renders it difficult to compute the magnitude of the solar background and hinders the application of standard calibration techniques. Despite these limitations, methods have been developed to successfully produce data products that have value to the atmospheric community for cloud and aerosol research and are currently available at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). In this paper we describe the ICESat‐2 atmospheric channel and the methods used to process the ATLAS raw photon count data to obtain calibrated backscatter and higher level products such as layer heights and type, blowing snow, column optical depth and apparent surface reflectance.

【 授权许可】

Unknown