ICESat-2 Atmospheric Data Product News: Capabilities of the DDA-Atmosphere for Detection of Tenuous Clouds, Aerosol Layers and Blowing Snow and Applications in Atmospheric and Climate Science Topics

Abstract:

In this paper, we shed a fresh light on some of the exciting applications in atmospheric sciences and climate sciences that now can be approached using the atmospheric science data products from NASA's ICESat-2 Mission, launched September 15, 2018. A density-dimension algorithm (DDA-atmosphere) for analysis of micro-pulse photon-counting lidar altimeter data from the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) aboard ICESat-2 has been specifically designed for detection and identification of atmospheric layers and their boundaries. These layers include optically thick and thin clouds, aerosol layers such as those from urban and industrial pollution, wild fires, dust storms and volcanic eruptions, blowing snow as common over the Antarctic Ice Sheets and fog as often occurs over the Arctic sea ice. Because the DDA-atmosphere adapts automatically to different conditions of background and apparent surface reflection, atmospheric layers can be detected during day-time and night-time conditions. Results presented here are based on the atmospheric ICESat-2 ATLAS data products, ATL04 and ATL09, and related research products. A particular strength of the algorithm lies in the identification of tenuous layers, which play an important role in energy exchange between the Earth and the atmosphere, an essential component in climate modeling. Identification of aerosol layers provides salient information in topics of societal relevance, including public health and safety and hazard mitigation (pollution, natural and man-made hazards).