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Description

This data set (ATL03) contains height above the WGS 84 ellipsoid (ITRF2014 reference frame), latitude, longitude, and time for all photons downlinked by the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) instrument on board the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) observatory. The ATL03 product was designed to be a single source for all photon data and ancillary information needed by higher-level ATLAS/ICESat-2 products. As such, it also includes spacecraft and instrument parameters and ancillary data not explicitly required for ATL03.

Version Description

Changes for this version include:
  • Updated photon heights to include time-dependent range bias. The mean offset between ATL03 version 4 and version 5 photon heights is on the order of 1.2 cm. See more details in the user guide and/or ATBD for this data product.
  • Added XML metadata to indicate the percentage of each surface type within a granule.
  • Updated podppd_flag to include identification of ATLAS calibration periods.
  • Updated the default uncertainty values to represent the current best estimates.
  • Improved the TEP flagging.
  • Implemented some bug fixes including updates in the photon selection algorithm, calculation of the neutral atmosphere delay derivative and quality_ph flagging improvements.

Product Summary

Platforms
ICESat-2
Instruments
ATLAS
Spatial Extent

N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Reference System(s)
WGS 84 (EPSG:4326)
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
ORBIT
Temporal Extent
2018-10-13 to 2022-10-13
Temporal Resolution
91 Day
Concept ID
C2153572325-NSIDC_CPRD
Data State
DEPRECATED
Number of Files/Granules
0
Processing Level
2A
Published
Science Keywords
Terrain Elevation

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

Neumann, T., Brenner, A., Hancock, D., Robbins, J., Saba, J., Harbeck, K., Gibbons, A., Lee, J., Luthcke, S., Rebold, T., & et al. (2021). ATLAS/ICESat-2 L2A Global Geolocated Photon Data, Version 5 [Dataset]. NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/ATLAS/ATL03.005 Date Accessed: 2026-10-10

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Publications Citing This Dataset

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  • Gu, Yuanfei, Yang, Jian, Ma, Yue, Li, Yao, Xu, Nan, Hua Wang, Xiao
Assessment of the Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2 Performance
  • Magruder, Lori A., Neumann, Tom, Kurtz, Nathan, Sutterley, Tyler C., Hancock, David, Vornberger, Patricia, Robbins, John, Smith, Benjamin
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