MABEL photon-counting laser altimetry data in Alaska for ICESat-2 simulations and development

Kelly M Brunt, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD, United States; NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, MD, United States, Thorsten Markus, NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, United States, Tom Neumann, NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr., Greenbelt, United States, Jason M Amundson, University of Alaska Southeast, Department of Natural Sciences, Juneau, United States, Jeffrey L Kavanaugh, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada and William B Cook, NASA Goddard SFC, Greenbelt, MD, United States
Abstract:
Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) is scheduled to launch in 2017 and will carry the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), which is a photon-counting laser altimeter and represents a new approach to space-borne determination of surface elevation. Given the new technology of ATLAS, an airborne instrument, the Multiple Altimeter Beam Experimental Lidar (MABEL), has been deployed to both Greenland (April 2012) and Alaska (July 2014) to provide data needed for: 1) satellite algorithm development; 2) to simulate key elements of this photon-counting sampling strategy; and 3) to assess elements of this sampling strategy that may vary seasonally. Here, we compare seasonal aspects of the two datasets, with a focus on results from the latter campaign, where in situ observations in southeastern Alaska help to assess instrument performance in summer conditions and in the presence of glacier melt ponds.
Back to: Advances in Altimetry of the Polar Regions III Posters