Satellite Needs Working Group (SNWG) agencies stated that they would benefit more significantly from reduced latency observations from the Ice, Clouds, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) mission, specifically over the Great Lakes region. Efforts here focus on reducing latency to three days from the original 45-day wait.
The team has operationally released reduced-latency versions of existing products for ICESat-2 and analyzed the uncertainty of these products. This has been a necessary step toward the capability for a low-latency lake ice freeboard thickness product. The five "expedited products" are now discoverable through NASA's Land, Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for Earth observing systems (LANCE) and available at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Higher quality, longer-latency products remain available in the permanent data archive. The team has begun investigating a new algorithm approach for the proposed lake ice thickness data product. The proposed work builds off the ATLAS/ICESat-2 Level 3A Sea Ice Freeboard Quick Look (ATL10QL) product.
| Platform | Temporal Frequency | Horizontal Resolution | Geographic Domain | Vertical Resolution | Latency | Spectral Band | Thematic Areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ICESat-2 | Variable | 20 m - 150 m | The Great Lakes | < 5 cm | 3-5 days | Visible (VIS) | Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems, Land Cover and Land Use Change, Ocean and Cryosphere, Water and Energy Cycle |
The near real-time (NRT) Great Lakes Freeboard and Ice Thickness solution helps provide accurate ice mapping for safe commercial shipping and fishing, all of which are vital to the economic interests of the Great Lakes region.
Need help using solution? SNWG's Stakeholder Engagement Program (SEP) curates relevant training resources focused on how to access and use SNWG solutions. For each solution, resources are aggregated into the following categories: Fundamentals of Remote Sensing, Missions and Instruments, Data Products and Descriptions, Data Access and Code Examples, and Use Case and Application Examples. The resources below are for the ICESat-2 Quick Look products. You can directly access these data here: ICESat-2 Quick Look. More information is also available through NSIDC and LANCE.
| Topic | Resource | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Fundamentals of Remote Sensing | Sensing Our Earth from Above | Background information about Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) remote sensing from NASA Langley Research Center |
| The Basics of LiDAR - Light Detection and Ranging - Remote Sensing | The National Science Foundation's (NSF) foundational information about LiDAR remote sensing | |
| The Fundamentals of LiDAR | NASA's Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) overview of LiDAR remote sensing |
| Topic | Resource | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Data Products and Descriptions | ICESat-2 Mission Page | ICESat-2's mission landing page with links to other relevant resources |
| ICESat-2 Technical Specs | Technical specifications of ICESat-2 including orbital and coverage information | |
| Space Lasers | Overview of the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) instrument on the ICESat-2 platform | |
| ICESat-2 | Overview of the ICESat-2 mission including data stories and links to other relevant information | |
| ICESat-2 Mission Brochure | Mission brochure with general ICESat-2 information |
| Topic | Resource | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Data Products and Descriptions | FAQs on ICESat-2 quick looks | Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about what ICESat-2 quick look data products are and how to find them |
| ICESat-2 Data Usher in a New Age of Exploration | Description of data from ICESat-2 | |
| ICESat-2 Data Products | List of ICESat-2 data products including links to data set landing pages and Algorithm Theoretical Basis Documents (ATBDs) | |
| ICESat-2 Data | ICESat-2 data products available through NSIDC including Quick Look products | |
| ICESat-2 Product Descriptions | Overview of the ICESat-2 products distinguished by product level | |
| ICESat-2 Product - SNWG Fact Sheet | Satellite Needs Working Group (SNWG) fact sheet for the Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) Quick Look products that includes an overview of the solution, its societal benefit, and data specifications such as temporal coverage and spatial resolution | |
| ICESat-2 | Earthdata | Earthdata page for ICESat-2 Quick Look data products |
| Topic | Resource | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Data Access and Code Examples | Earthdata Search - ICESat-2 Quick Look Products | ICESat-2 Quick Look products available through Earthdata Search |
| ICESat-2 Data Access and Services | NASA Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) tutorial for accessing ICESat-2 data and using associated services for data visualization | |
| icepyx: Python tools for obtaining and working with ICESat-2 data | Open-source resource library for working with ICESat-2 data | |
| ICESat-2 SlideRule | Cloud-based data processing service for ICESat-2 data products | |
| NSIDC Data Tutorials | Various open-source NSIDC data tutorials for easier access to ICESat-2 data | |
| OpenAltimetry | The OpenAltimetry tool is used for browsing ICESat and ICESat-2 data |
| Topic | Resource | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Use Case and Application Examples | Iceberg Hazards | Using ICESat-2 to identify and track icebergs |
| ICESat-2 Applications | Presentation slides describing potential applications of ICESat-2 data | |
| Mapping and Monitoring Lakes and Reservoirs with Satellite Observations | NASA Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) tutorial that presents a case study for monitoring water level height with ICESat-2 | |
| Hacking ICESat-2: How an Open Science Workshop Helped Scientists Wrangle Big Data | Overview of the ICESat-2 Hackweek | |
| ICESat-2 Hackweek Learning Resources | Resources from the ICESat-2 Hackweek | |
| Wildfires | Using ICESat-2 to monitor wildfire hazard potential | |
| Volcanic Hazards | Using ICESat-2 to mitigate volcanic events |