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Description

This data set (ATL09) contains calibrated, attenuated backscatter profiles, layer integrated attenuated backscatter, and other parameters including cloud layer height and atmospheric characteristics obtained from the data. The data were acquired by the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) instrument on board the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) observatory.

Version Description

Changes for this version include:
  • Added new routine process_blow_snow_dens to compute blowing snow height and diamond dust heights based on methods defined in the Density Dimension Algorithm (DDA) ATBD. bsnow_h_dens now has valid values when the DDA detects blowing snow.
  • Added constants bs_quartile, bs_gap, bs_bin_thresh, dd_min_top_bin, dd_bin_thresh, bs_thresh_sens, bs_thresh_bias, bs_downsample, bs_thresh_seg_len to ATL09.
  • Added parameters bsnow_dens_flag, ddust_htop_dens, ddust_hbot_dens to ATL09.
  • Added parameter podppd_flag to ATL09. podppd_flag provides identification of ATLAS data in nominal geolocation quality status or a degraded quality. podppd_flag =0 means geolocation is in reference ground track pointing with normal quality. podppd_flag =4 means geolocation is in around-the-world scan or ocean scan with normal quality. Other values are degraded quality.
  • Set Fill Value to 127 for snow_ice on ATL09.
  • Density Dimension Algorithm (DDA) processing is now done on same solar elevation sub-chunks (day, night, twilight) rather than using the first solar elevation per processing chunk.
  • Added check on invalid aclr_true and raised limit of aclr_clim to prevent errors.
  • Changed dead time correction algorithm used to correct the surface signal magnitude. This should improve the accuracy of the parameter surface_sig. This improved Apparent Surface Reflectivity (ASR) accuracy.
  • Replaced ANC32 surface reflectance map based on GOME with one generated from actual ICESat-2 ASR measurements in clear (no cloud or aerosol layers) conditions. This should increase the accuracy of ASR-based cloud detection and column optical depth measurements.

Product Summary

Platforms
ICESat-2
Instruments
ATLAS
Spatial Extent

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

Spatial Resolution
280 Meters
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
C2153574732-NSIDC_CPRD
Data State
DEPRECATED
Number of Files/Granules
0
Processing Level
3
Published
Science Keywords
Cloud Properties ,
Lidar Backscatter

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

Palm, S., Yang, Y., Herzfeld, U., Hancock, D., Barbieri, K., Wimert, J., & the ICESat-2 Science Team. (2021). ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Calibrated Backscatter Profiles and Atmospheric Layer Characteristics, Version 5 [Dataset]. NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/ATLAS/ATL09.005 Date Accessed: 2026-10-03

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Publications Citing This Dataset

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Title Authors Year Referenced Datasets
ICESat-2 Photon-Counting Lidar for 3D Ocean Observation: A Comprehensive Review of Algorithms, Applications, and Synergistic Opportunities
  • CHEN, Peng, Zhang, Zhenhua, Zhang, Siqi, Pan, Delu
Sea surface wind speed retrieval based on ICESat-2 ocean signal vertical
  • Xu, Jinghong, Liu, Qun, Liu, Chong, Chen, Yatong, Xu, Peituo, Ma, Yue, Chen, Yifu, Zhou, Yudi, Zhang, Han, Sun, Wenbo, Yang, Suhui, Lv, Weige, Wu, Lan, Liu, Dong
Global Climatologies of Vegetation Aerodynamic Roughness for Momentum: A
  • Borak, Jordan S., Jasinski, Michael F., Neuenschwander, Amy, Tangdamrongsub, Natthachet
Deriving Water Diffuse Attenuation Coefficient K
d Using ICESat-2 Bathymetric Information
  • Zheng, Huiying, Liu, Hao, Yang, Jian, Ma, Yue, Hua Wang, Xiao
Cloud optical thickness estimation over oceans combining active and passive information of ICESat-2
  • Liu, Xinyuan, Ma, Yue, Yang, Jian, Zheng, Huiying, Li, Song, Wang, Xiao Hua
Instrument radiometric correction of laser signals and background noise for ICESat-2 photon-counting lidar
  • Yang, Jian, Zheng, Huiying, Ma, Yue, Liu, Xinyuan, Li, Song
Radiometric Correction Model and Land Cover Classification of
  • Zhou, Hui, Zhang, Qianyin, Ma, Yue, Li, Song, Chen, Yuwei
Background noise model of spaceborne photon-counting lidars over oceans and aerosol optical depth retrieval from ICESat-2 noise data
  • Yang, Jian, Zheng, Huiying, Ma, Yue, Zhao, Pufan, Zhou, Hui, Li, Song, Wang, Xiao Hua
Derived reflectance over open oceans using ICESat-2 background noise and auxiliary data
  • Zheng, Huiying, Yang, Jian, Ma, Yue, Ma, Yi, Zhou, Hui, Wang, Xiao Hua, Li, Song
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