MABEL Photon-Counting Laser Altimetry Data in Alaska for Icesat-2 Simulations and Development
The Cryosphere, 10, 1707–1719, 2016 www.the-cryosphere.net/10/1707/2016/ doi:10.5194/tc-10-1707-2016 © Author(s) 2016. CC Attribution 3.0 License. MABEL photon-counting laser altimetry data in Alaska for ICESat-2 simulations and development Kelly M. Brunt1,2, Thomas A. Neumann2, Jason M. Amundson3, Jeffrey L. Kavanaugh4, Mahsa S. Moussavi5,6, Kaitlin M. Walsh2,7, William B. Cook2, and Thorsten Markus2 1Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC), University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA 2NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA 3Department of Natural Sciences, University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau, AK, USA 4Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada 5Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA 6National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), CIRES, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA 7Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies, Inc., Greenbelt, MD, USA Correspondence to: Kelly M. Brunt (kelly.m.brunt@nasa.gov) Received: 10 December 2015 – Published in The Cryosphere Discuss.: 19 January 2016 Revised: 1 July 2016 – Accepted: 11 July 2016 – Published: 10 August 2016 Abstract. Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat- and melt ponds indicate the potential ICESat-2 will have for 2) is scheduled to launch in late 2017 and will carry the the study of mountain and other small glaciers. Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), which is a photon-counting laser altimeter and represents a new approach to satellite determination of surface ele- vation. Given the new technology of ATLAS, an airborne 1 Introduction instrument, the Multiple Altimeter Beam Experimental Li- dar (MABEL), was developed to provide data needed for Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) is a satellite-algorithm development and ICESat-2 error analysis.
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