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NASA's Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) provided multi-year ice sheet elevation measurements from 2003 to 2009. It fired short pulses of laser light to the surface, using the time they took to reflect back from the surface and return to the satellite to determine surface height.

It measured ice-sheet mass balance as well as cloud and aerosol heights. ICESat revealed cloud properties, including stratospheric clouds over polar regions, as well as surface topography and vegetation data from around the globe.

These measurements included data on changes in the polar portions of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.

Learn more about ICESat

Type

Earth Observation Satellite

Data Center

NSIDC DAAC

Launch

January 13, 2003

Objective

Measure Earth's polar ice sheets, clouds, mountains and forests

The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) instrument flew aboard ICESat from 2003 to early 2010. By combining surface lidar with cloud and aerosol lidar, GLAS precisely measured surface heights of ice masses, and heights within Earth’s atmosphere. Data products at the NSIDC DAAC describe elevations of ice sheets, glaciers, and sea ice, as well as height profiles of clouds and aerosols.

Related Platforms

ICESat-2

NASA's Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) carries a photon-counting laser altimeter that allows scientists to measure the elevation of ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice, and more in unprecedented detail.

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