MABEL photon-counting laser altimetry data in Alaska for ICESat-2 simulations and development
Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) is scheduled to launch in late 2017 and will carry the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), which is a photon-counting laser altimeter and represents a new approach to satellite determination of surface elevation. Given the new te...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2016-08-01
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| Series: | The Cryosphere |
| Online Access: | http://www.the-cryosphere.net/10/1707/2016/tc-10-1707-2016.pdf |
| Summary: | Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) is scheduled to launch
in late 2017 and will carry the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System
(ATLAS), which is a photon-counting laser altimeter and represents a new
approach to satellite determination of surface elevation. Given the new
technology of ATLAS, an airborne instrument, the Multiple Altimeter Beam
Experimental Lidar (MABEL), was developed to provide data needed for
satellite-algorithm development and ICESat-2 error analysis. MABEL was
deployed out of Fairbanks, Alaska, in July 2014 to provide a test dataset for
algorithm development in summer conditions with water-saturated snow and ice
surfaces. Here we compare MABEL lidar data to in situ observations in
Southeast Alaska to assess instrument performance in summer conditions and in
the presence of glacier surface melt ponds and a wet snowpack. Results
indicate the following: (1) based on MABEL and in situ data comparisons, the
ATLAS 90 m beam-spacing strategy will provide a valid assessment of
across-track slope that is consistent with shallow slopes
(< 1°) of an ice-sheet interior over 50 to 150 m length
scales; (2) the dense along-track sampling strategy of photon counting
systems can provide crevasse detail; and (3) MABEL 532 nm wavelength light
may sample both the surface and subsurface of shallow (approximately 2 m
deep) supraglacial melt ponds. The data associated with crevasses and melt
ponds indicate the potential ICESat-2 will have for the study of mountain and
other small glaciers. |
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| ISSN: | 1994-0416 1994-0424 |