topohack

Taking ICESat-2 to the mountains: a workflow using satellite laser altimetry to resolve topography over complex terrain

Data Science Objective

Compare and evaluate ICESat-2 data with high resolution DEMs (airborne lidar/satellite stereo) collected at lower latitudes over bare ground.

Datasets

• ICESat-2 ATL06 (20 m resolution)
• ICESat-2 ATL03 (geolocated points along track)
• Bareground data (LULC for US, Global Bareground Data Product for areas outside US)

Validation Datasets

• WADNR Lidar
• ASO Lidar
• Himat DEMs
• Jemez, NM CZO
• DEM from H.P.

Tools

• Python: geopandas, rasterio, numpy, scipy, pandas, pygeotools, demcoreg
• NASA Ames Stereo Pipeline

Tasks

• Learn how to download the ICESat-2 data by lat lon bounding box
• Explore OpenAltimetry and utility with multiple locations and time periods
• Explore ATL03 and ATL06 products and theoretical basis
• Learn how to subset ATL03 and ATL06 data based on flags
• Intersect ICESat-2 tracks with RGI glacier polygons to get a sense of bare ground coverage near glaciers.
• Evaluate/Compare the topography resolved by ICESat-2 profiles along steep mountains with topographic profiles returned from high-resolution DEMs.
• Get a sense of snow accumulation (depth) by comparing Snow-off DEM over Grand Mesa with winter (October to February) IceSat-2 collects.
• Create notebook that shows how to pull all cloud-free data for entire mission for target area bounding box.

Study Sites:

• Dependent on ICESat-2 coverage.
• Potential study sites: Cascades and Olympic Ranges (western WA), Rocky Mountains (CO), High Mountain Asia, Grand Mesa (CO)

Other Questions

Are notebooks available that show how the comparison between IceBridge lidar and ICESat-2 tracks was done?