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

• Published in: Journal of geodynamics 2002-10, Vol.34 (3), p.405-445
• Main Authors: Zwally, H.J., Schutz, B., Abdalati, W., Abshire, J., Bentley, C., Brenner, A., Bufton, J., Dezio, J., Hancock, D., Harding, D., Herring, T., Minster, B., Quinn, K., Palm, S., Spinhirne, J., Thomas, R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0264-3707
• DOI: 10.1016/S0264-3707(02)00042-X

The Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) mission will measure changes in elevation of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets as part of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) of satellites. Time-series of elevation changes will enable determination of the present-day mass balance of the ice sheets, study of associations between observed ice changes and polar climate, and estimation of the present and future contributions of the ice sheets to global sea level rise. Other scientific objectives of ICESat include: global measurements of cloud heights and the vertical structure of clouds and aerosols; precise measurements of land topography and vegetation canopy heights; and measurements of sea ice roughness, sea ice thickness, ocean surface elevations, and surface reflectivity. The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) on ICESat has a 1064 nm laser channel for surface altimetry and dense cloud heights and a 532 nm lidar channel for the vertical distribution of clouds and aerosols. The predicted accuracy for the surface-elevation measurements is 15 cm, averaged over 60 m diameter laser footprints spaced at 172 m along-track. The orbital altitude will be around 600 km at an inclination of 94° with a 183-day repeat pattern. The on-board GPS receiver will enable radial orbit determinations to better than 5 cm, and star-trackers will enable footprints to be located to 6 m horizontally. The spacecraft attitude will be controlled to point the laser beam to within±35 m of reference surface tracks at high latitudes. ICESat is designed to operate for 3–5 years and should be followed by successive missions to measure ice changes for at least 15 years.