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Description

This data set (ATL06) provides geolocated, land-ice surface heights (above the WGS 84 ellipsoid, ITRF2014 reference frame), plus ancillary parameters that can be used to interpret and assess the quality of the height estimates. 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 Version 6 include:
  • Processing data for all global land regions. These data are considered experimental, and no quality checks are being performed for the data outside of the polar regions.
  • Dynamically computing the radial component of geolocation uncertainty (sigma_geo_r). Previously, this value was fixed. The uncertainty is calculated for ATL03 (sigma_h) and the value is passed through to ATL06 (sigma_geo_r). Values for the horizontal geolocation uncertainties (sigma_geo_at and sigma_geo_xt) remain at fixed, pessimistic values of 5 m.

Product Summary

Platforms
ICESat-2
Instruments
ATLAS
Spatial Extent

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

Spatial Resolution
20 Meters
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
2018-10-14 to 2025-03-02
Concept ID
C2670138092-NSIDC_CPRD
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
357172
Processing Level
3
Published
Science Keywords
Glacier Elevation/Ice Sheet 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

Smith, B., Adusumilli, S., Csath??, B., Felikson, D., Fricker, H., Gardner, A., Holschuh, N., Lee, J., Nilsson, J., Paolo, F., Siegfried, M., Sutterley, T., & Team, T. I. C. E. S.-2 S. (2023). ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Land Ice Height, Version 6 [Data set]. NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/ATLAS/ATL06.006 Date Accessed: 2026-01-28

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