Seasat and GEOSAT Altimetry for the Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets

Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Metadata:

• Identification_Information
• Data_Quality_Information
• Spatial_Reference_Information
• Distribution_Information
• Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: Unknown

Publication_Date: 19970101

Title: Seasat and GEOSAT Altimetry for the Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets

Edition:

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form:

Series_Information:

Series_Name:

Issue_Identification:

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: Boulder, CO U.S.A.

Publisher: National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)

Other_Citation_Details:

Online_Linkage: http://nsidc.org/data/nsidc-0053.html

Description:

Abstract:

The Ice Altimetry System (IAS) CD-ROM contains surface elevations of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets derived from Seasat and GEOSAT radar altimetry data. The Seasat data were collected for a continuous 90 days in 1978, at latitudes between 72 degrees South and 72 degrees North. GEOSAT was launched in 1985 and placed in a nearly identical orbit to Seasat, also at latitudes of between 72 degrees South and 72 degrees North. The orbit was designed to provide high-density measurements over the Earth's surface, at a maximum grid spacing of 2.7 kilometers at the equator and much denser spacing over polar ice sheets. Data were acquired between April 1985 and September 1986. Initially acquired by the Johns Hopkins APL (Applied Physics Lab) satellite tracking facility, the raw altimetry satellite data from Seasat and GEOSAT were passed on to NASA, via the US Navy. NASA developed slope correction routines for the higher slopes over the ice sheets, relative to ocean surfaces. The data are height profile Level 3 data and gridded height Level 4 data provided by the Oceans and Ice branch of the Laboratory for Hydrospheric Physics of Goddard Space Flight Center. Elevations from the full data rate (i.e., one measurement every 662.5 m) are provided in georeferenced databases. These elevations are relative to the WGS-84 ellipsoid. Gridded elevations at 10-kilometer and 20-kilometer spacing are provided in the gridded data sets created from the GEOSAT and Seasat data, respectively. Software to extract and browse subsets of these data is included on the CD-ROM. The IAS software also allows the user to view contours created from the gridded data and groundtracks of the full-rate data.

Purpose:

Not Available

Supplemental_Information:

REFERENCE: National Snow and Ice Data Center. 1985-1986. Users' Manual on the Ice Altimetry System CD-ROM. NSIDC Distributed Active Archive Center, University of Colorado at Boulder. Seasat and GEOSAT Ice Altimetry Data. Digital data available from nsidc@kryos.colorado.edu. Boulder, Colorado. Zwally, H. J., A. C. Brenner, J. A. Major, T. V. Martin, and R. A. Bindschadler. 1990. Satellite radar altimetry over ice. Processing and corrections of Seasat data over Greenland. NASA Reference Publication 1: 1233. Zwally, H. Jay, Judy A. Major, Anita C. Brenner, and Robert A. Bindschadler. 1987. Ice measurements by GEOSAT radar altimetry. Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest. 8:2:251-254.

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: 19780601

Ending_Date: 19860930

Currentness_Reference:Unknown

Status:

Progress: Complete

Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: As needed

Spatial_Domain:

Description_of_Geographic_Extent:

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: -60.0

East_Bounding_Coordinate: -20.0

North_Bounding_Coordinate: 72.0

South_Bounding_Coordinate: 60.0

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD SCIENCE PARAMETERS

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD PLATFORM

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD INSTRUMENT

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: PROJECT

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ANCILLARY KEYWORDS

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO TOPIC CATEGORY

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS > ICE SHEETS

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE > GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS > ICE SHEETS

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS > GLACIER ELEVATION/ICE SHEET ELEVATION

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE > GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS > GLACIER ELEVATION/ICE SHEET ELEVATION

Theme_Keyword: GEOSAT > GEODETIC SATELLITE

Theme_Keyword: SEASAT 1 > OCEAN DYNAMICS SATELLITE

Theme_Keyword: RADAR ALTIMETERS

Theme_Keyword: EOSDIS > EARTH OBSERVING SYSTEM DATA INFORMATION SYSTEM

Theme_Keyword: ESIP > EARTH SCIENCE INFORMATION PARTNERS PROGRAM

Theme_Keyword: Altimetry

Theme_Keyword: Antarctic

Theme_Keyword: Goddard Space Flight Center

Theme_Keyword: Greenland

Theme_Keyword: Ice Sheets

Theme_Keyword: Nasa

Theme_Keyword: Radar

Theme_Keyword: Radar Altimetry

Theme_Keyword: Satellite Radar Data

Theme_Keyword: GEOSCIENTIFIC INFORMATION

Theme_Keyword: INLAND WATERS

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD

Place_Keyword: CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA > GREENLAND

Place_Keyword: CONTINENT > ANTARCTICA

Place_Keyword: GEOGRAPHIC REGION > ARCTIC

Place_Keyword: GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR

Access_Constraints: Not Available

Use_Constraints:

Not Available

Point_of_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: NSIDC USER SERVICES

Contact_Position: TECHNICAL CONTACT

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: National Snow and Ice Data Center

Address: CIRES, 449 UCB

Address: University of Colorado

City: Boulder

State_or_Province: CO

Postal_Code: 80309-0449

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: +1 (303) 492-6199

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: +1 (303) 492-2468

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: nsidc@nsidc.org

Data_Quality_Information:

Attribute_Accuracy:

Attribute_Accuracy_Report:

Not Available

Logical_Consistency_Report:

Not Available

Completeness_Report:

Not Available

Lineage:

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

Not Available

Process_Date: Unknown

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: NSIDC_DAAC > NSIDC Distributed Active Archive Center

Contact_Person: NSIDC USER SERVICES

Contact_Position: DATA CENTER CONTACT

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: National Snow and Ice Data Center

Address: CIRES, 449 UCB

Address: University of Colorado

City: Boulder

State_or_Province: CO

Postal_Code: 80309-0449

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: +1 (303) 492-6199

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: +1 (303) 492-2468

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: nsidc@nsidc.org

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: NSIDC > National Snow and Ice Data Center

Contact_Person: NSIDC USER SERVICES

Contact_Position: DATA CENTER CONTACT

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: National Snow and Ice Data Center

Address: CIRES, 449 UCB

Address: University of Colorado

City: Boulder

State_or_Province: CO

Postal_Code: 80309-0449

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: +1 (303) 492-6199

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: +1 (303) 492-2468

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: nsidc@nsidc.org

Resource_Description: NSIDC-0053

Distribution_Liability:

Not Available

Standard_Order_Process:

Digital_Form:

Digital_Transfer_Information:

Format_Name: ASCII, binary

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

Network_Address:

Network_Resource_Name:

http://nsidc.org/daac/index.html

Access_Instructions:

DATA CENTER URL

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

Network_Address:

Network_Resource_Name:

http://nsidc.org

Access_Instructions:

DATA CENTER URL

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Fees: None

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date:

Metadata_Review_Date: 20110801

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: GCMD User Support Office

Contact_Organization: NASA Global Change Master Directory

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: Not Available

City: Lanham

State_or_Province: MD

Postal_Code: 20706

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: Not Available

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: gcmduso@gcmd.gsfc.nasa.gov

Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998

Metadata_Time_Convention: local time