ICESat II : Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite
The ICESat mission will provide multi-year elevation data needed to determine ice sheet mass balance as well as cloud property information, especially for stratospheric clouds common over polar areas.
The Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) is the 2nd-generation of the orbiting laser altimeter ICESat. ICESat is the benchmark Earth Observing System mission for measuring ice sheet mass balance, cloud and aerosol heights, as well as land topography and vegetation characteristics. From 2003 to 2009, the ICESat mission provided multi-year elevation data needed to determine ice sheet mass balance as well as cloud property information, especially for stratospheric clouds common over polar areas. It also provided topography and vegetation data around the globe, in addition to the polar-specific coverage over the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.
Mission objectives:
- Measuring ice sheet mass balance, cloud and aerosol heights
- Measure land topography and vegetation characteristics
- Provide multi-year elevation data needed to determine ice sheet mass balance
- Provide cloud property information, especially for stratospheric clouds common over polar areas
- Provide topography and vegetation data around the globe, in addition to the polar-specific coverage over the Earth's ice sheets
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