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Description

ATL07QL is the Quick Look (QL) version of ATL07 with an expedited latency of 3‒5 days. QL data are based on the same algorithms that generate the standard products but do not undergo the same rigorous quality checks; thus, they should be used with caution. Once final files are available, the corresponding QL files are removed. ATL07QL contains along-track sea surface height and sea ice height for segments of variable lengths for all beams as well as fixed 10-meter segments for strong beams. Heights are also computed using the DDA-Bifurcation algorithm for strong beams. The data were acquired by the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) instrument on board the ICESat-2 observatory.

Version Description

Added starting along-track distance of sea-ice segment to main data group. Average along-track distance remains on product; Introduced lognormal distributions to be used as alternate expected waveform table; Implemented the option to process sea ice heights at half-stepping, 10-meter segment lengths; Introduced DDA-Bifurcation algorithm, which provides independently computed heights along with the ATL07 heights and helps detect and measure potential melt ponds; Updated algorithm to apply Dynamic Atmosphere Correction (DAC) as a geophysical correction; Introduced new fine-tracker algorithm to make it modular and introduce custom data groups to help with data handling and writing.

Product Summary

Platforms
ICESat-2
Instruments
ATLAS
Projects
LANCE ,
SNWG
Spatial Extent

N: 88 S: -88 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Reference System(s)
WGS 84 (EPSG:4326)
Location
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE ,
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
2026-04-28 to Present
Temporal Resolution
91 Day
Concept ID
C3566183486-NSIDC_CPRD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
2755
Processing Level
3
Published
Science Keywords
Sea Ice 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

Kwok, R., A. A. Petty, G. Cunningham, T. Markus, D. Hancock, A. Ivanoff, J. Wimert, M. Bagnardi, N. Kurtz, & ICESat-2 Science Team. (2025). ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Sea Ice Height Quick Look, Version 7 [Dataset]. NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/ATLAS/ATL07QL.007 Date Accessed: 2026-08-06

Documents