GLAS/ICESat L1A Global Atmosphere Data (HDF5), Version 33
Data set id:
GLAH02
DOI: 10.5067/ICESAT/GLAS/DATA102
This is the most recent version of these data.
Version Summary
Version Summary
For information about Version 33, visit the ICESat/GLAS Version History page
Overview
GLAH02 Level-1A atmospheric data include the normalized relative backscatter for the 532 nm and 1064 nm channels, and low-level instrument corrections such as laser energy (1064 nm and 532 nm), photon coincidence (532 nm), and detector gain correction (1064 nm). Each data granule has an associated browse product.
Parameter(s):
SENSOR COUNTS
Platform(s):
ICESat
Sensor(s):
ALTIMETERS, CD, GLAS, GPS, GPS Receiver, LA, PC
Data Format(s):
HDF
Temporal Coverage:
20 February 2003 to 11 October 2009
Temporal Resolution:
- 3 hour
Spatial Resolution:
- 60 m to 70 m
- 60 m to 70 m
Spatial Reference System(s):
ITRF2008
EPSG:5332
Spatial Coverage:
N:
86
S:
-86
E:
180
W:
-180
Blue outlined yellow areas on the map below indicate the spatial coverage for this data set.
Data Access & Tools
A free NASA Earthdata Login account is required to access these data. Learn More
Documentation
User Guide
General Resources
Product Specification Documents
Help Articles
General Questions & FAQs
This article covers frequently asked questions about the NASA NSIDC DAAC's Earthdata cloud migration project and what it means to data users.
Analysis of altimetric data acquired by the GLAS instrument requires accurate determination of the laser spot location on the Earth's surface (ice, land, water, clouds) or geolocation of the laser spot.
How to Articles
Many NSIDC DAAC data sets can be accessed using the NSIDC DAAC's Data Access Tool. This tool provides the ability to search and filter data with spatial and temporal constraints using a map-based interface.Users have the option to
Harmony API Quickstart Guide: Customizing NASA NSIDC DAAC data in Earthdata Cloud
To convert HDF5 files into binary format you will need to use the h5dump utility, which is part of the HDF5 distribution available from the HDF Group. How you install HDF5 depends on your operating system.
The HDF Group has example code for access and visualization of MODIS, GLAS HDF5, AMSR-E, and NISE data in MATLAB, IDL, Python, and NCL.
This guide will provide an overview of the altimetry measurements and data sets across the missions, as well as a guide for accessing the data through NASA Earthdata Search and programmatically using an Application Programming Interface (API).
The NASA Earthdata Cloud is the NASA cloud-based archive of Earth observations. It is hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Learn how to find and access NSIDC DAAC data directly in the cloud.
All data from the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) is directly accessible through our HTTPS file system using Wget or curl. This article provides basic command line instructions for accessing data using this method.
HDFView
https://support.hdfgroup.org/products/java/hdfview/
When you first open HDFView, the HDFView window appears with an empty tree and data panel.