We are in the process of migrating all NASA Earth science data sites into Earthdata from now until end of 2026. Not all NASA Earth science data and resources will appear here until then. Thank you for your patience as we make this transition.
Read about the Web Unification Project
Topography Data Access and Tools
NASA data detail topography across the land surface, ocean, cryosphere, terrestrial hydrosphere and within the context of climate change. Our datasets and tools help researchers translate these interconnected data points into actionable knowledge.
Topography Datasets
| Dataset Sort descending | Version | Platforms | Instruments | Temporal Extent | Spatial Extent | Spatial Resolution | Data Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SnowEx20-21 QSI Lidar Snow Depth 3m UTM Grid V001 | 1 | King Air | LIDAR | 2020-02-09 to 2020-02-19, 2021-03-15 to 2021-03-20 |
N: 44.3658 S: 43.0343 E: -114.8547 W: -117.0661 N: 40.6041 S: 40.5161 E: -111.5989 W: -111.7319 N: 40.5841 S: 38.9681 E: -105.7432 W: -108.3384 |
3 Meters x 3 Meters | TIFF |
| SnowEx21 Prairie Station Digital Surface Models from UAV-LiDAR V001 | 1 | UAV | CAMERA, LIDAR | 2021-01-15 to 2021-03-04 |
N: 47.0655368 S: 47.0562694 E: -109.945955 W: -109.9595558 |
GeoTIFF | |
| SnowEx23 Airborne Lidar-Derived 0.5M Snow Depth and Canopy Height V001 | 1 | CESSNA 206 | Riegl Airborne Lidar | 2022-03-11 to 2023-10-25 |
N: 70 S: 64.5 E: -148 W: -148.5 |
0.5 Meters x 0.5 Meters | GeoTIFF |
| SnowEx23 Apr23 IOP Snow Surface Imagery V001 | 1 | GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS | CAMERAS, GPS | 2023-04-14 to 2023-04-18 |
N: 65.15746 S: 63.8619 E: -145.723 W: -147.508 |
Excel, JPEG | |
| SnowEx23 Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest Terrestrial Lidar Scans V001 | 1 | GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS | GPS RECEIVERS, LIDAR | 2022-10-22 to 2022-10-27, 2023-03-08 to 2023-03-26 |
N: 64.714 S: 64.697 E: -148.278 W: -148.325 |
GeoTIFF | |
| SnowEx23 Oct22 Ground Surface Roughness Imagery V001 | 1 | GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS | CAMERAS | 2022-10-23 to 2022-10-25 |
N: 68.7 S: 68.4 E: -149.3 W: -149.5 |
JPEG | |
| SnowEx23 Oct22 Ground Surface Roughness Reconstruction V001 | 1 | GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS | CAMERAS | 2022-10-23 to 2022-10-25 |
N: 68.7 S: 68.4 E: -149.3 W: -149.5 |
LAZ | |
| SnowEx23 Oct23 Ground Surface Roughness Imagery V001 | 1 | GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS | CAMERAS | 2023-10-17 to 2023-10-28 |
N: 68.7 S: 68.5 E: -149.3 W: -149.6 N: 65.2 S: 64.8 E: -147.5 W: -147.8 |
JPEG | |
| SnowEx23 Oct23 Ground Surface Roughness Reconstruction V001 | 1 | GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS | CAMERAS | 2023-10-17 to 2023-10-28 |
N: 68.7 S: 68.5 E: -149.3 W: -149.6 N: 65.2 S: 64.8 E: -147.5 W: -147.8 |
LAZ | |
| Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) L1-L3 Ancillary Static Data V001 | 1 | NOT APPLICABLE | NOT APPLICABLE | 2015-01-14 to Present |
N: 86.4 S: -86.4 E: 180 W: -180 |
Binary, HDF5, ASCII |
SHOWING 10 OF 253
Topography Featured Observation Method: ICESat-2
NASA's Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) allows scientists to measure the elevation of ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice, and land across Earth's temperate and tropical regions, as well as take stock of the vegetation in forests worldwide. ICESat-2 carries the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), which sends 10,000 pulses of laser light to the ground per second and then measures how long it takes them be reflected back by the surface to determine the area's elevation.
Learn more about ICESat-2/ATLAS near real-time data provided by NASA's Land, Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for Earth observation (LANCE).
ICESat-2 carries the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), which sends pulses of laser light to the ground, collects the returning photons in a telescope, and records the photon travel time.
Learn more about ICESat-2/ATLAS near real-time data provided by NASA's Land, Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for Earth observation (LANCE).
ICESat-2 carries the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), which sends pulses of laser light to the ground, collects the returning photons in a telescope, and records the photon travel time.
Data from NASA’s ICESat-2 mission provide incredibly accurate measurements of Earth elevation change—and much more.
8 MIN READ
The five new datasets are the result of a joint effort by NASA’s Satellite Needs Working Group Management Office (SNWG MO), ICESat-2 team, and Land, Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE).
3 MIN READ
This is the first in a five-part webinar series to introduce NASA's Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation-2 (ICESat-2) platform and the platform's data, tools, and applications.
This ACCESS 2015 project focused on OpenAltimetry, a cloud-ready web-based application for discovery, access, and visualization of ICESat and ICESat-2 data.
Topography Data Tools
| Tool Sort descending | Description | Services | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earthdata Search | Earthdata Search enables data discovery, search, comparison, visualization, and access across NASA’s Earth science data holdings. | Search and Discovery, Access, Cataloging, Cloud Computing, Downloading | |
| Worldview | Worldview offers the capability to interactively browse over 1,200 global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and download the underlying data. | Analysis, Search and Discovery, Visualization, Access, Comparison, Monitoring Natural Events |
SHOWING 2 OF 2
Frequently Asked Questions
Earthdata Forum
Our online forum provides a space for users to browse thousands of FAQs about research needs, data, and data applications. You can also submit new questions for our experts to answer.
Submit Questions to Earthdata Forumand View Expert Responses