Altimetric sensors#


CALIPSO#

Source : FedEO (NASA_CMR)#

Description : Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) Imaging Infrared Radiometer Level 1B Radiance data, Provisional V1-10 data are CALIPSO Infrared Imaging Radiometer Level 1B radiance data. The IIR Level 1B data product contains a half orbit of geolocated, calibrated radiances. Image data are registered to a 1 km grid centered on the lidar track. The Level 1B data product is written in HDF. Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) was launched on April 28, 2006 to study the impact of clouds and aerosols on the Earth's radiation budget and climate. It flies in the international A-Train constellation for coincident Earth observations. The CALIPSO satellite comprises of three instruments, the Cloud-Aerosol LIdar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP), the Imaging Infrared Radiometer (IIR), and the Wide Field Camera (WFC). CALIPSO is a joint satellite mission between NASA and the French Agency, CNES.
Spatial coverage : Global
Temporal coverage : from 2006 to 2008


Source : FedEO (NASA_CWIC)#

Description : The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellite provides new insight into the role that clouds and atmospheric aerosols (airborne particles) play in regulating Earth's weather, climate, and air quality.
Spatial coverage : Global
Temporal coverage : unknown


CryoSat-2#

Source : EO-CAT (products)#

Description : CryoSat's primary payload is the SAR/Interferometric Radar Altimeter (SIRAL) (https://earth.esa.int/eogateway/instruments/siral) which has extended capabilities to meet the measurement requirements for ice-sheet elevation and sea-ice freeboard. CryoSat also carries three star trackers for measuring the orientation of the baseline. In addition, a radio receiver called Doppler Orbit and Radio Positioning Integration by Satellite (DORIS) and a small laser retroreflector ensures that CryoSat's position will be accurately tracked. More detailed information on CryoSat instruments is available on the CryoSat mission page. The following CryoSat datasets are available and distributed to registered users: Level 1B and L2 Ice products: FDM, LRM, SAR and SARIn Consolidated Level 2 (GDR): (LRM+SAR+SARIN) consolidated ice products over an orbit Intermediate Level 2 Ice products: LRM, SAR and SARIn L1b and L2 Ocean Products: GOP and IOP CryoTEMPO EOLIS Point Products CryoTEMPO EOLIS Gridded Products Detailed information concerning each of the above datasets is available in the CryoSat Products Overview (https://earth.esa.int/eogateway/missions/cryosat/products) and in the news item: CryoSat Ocean Products now open to scientific community (https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/missions/esa-operational-eo-missions/cryosat/news/-/asset_publisher/47bD/content/cryosat-ocean-products-now-open-to-scientific-community). CryoSat Level 1B altimetric products contain time and geo-location information as well as SIRAL measurements in engineering units. Calibration corrections are included and have been applied to the window delay computations. In Offline products, geophysical corrections are computed from Analysis Auxiliary Data Files (ADFs), whereas in FDM products corrections are computed for Forecast ADFs. All corrections are included in the data products and therefore the range can be calculated by taking into account the surface type. The Offline Level 2 LRM, SAR and SARIn ice altimetric products are generated 30 days after data acquisition and are principally dedicated to glaciologists working on sea-ice and land-ice areas. The Level 2 FDM products are near-real time ocean products, generated 2-3 hours after data acquisition, and fulfill the needs of some ocean operational services. Level 2 products contain the time of measurement, the geo-location and the height of the surface. IOP and GOP are outputs of the CryoSat Ocean Processor. These products are dedicated to the study of ocean surfaces, and provided specifically for the needs of the oceanographic community. IOP are generated 2-3 days after data sensing acquisition and use the DORIS Preliminary Orbit. GOP are typically generated 30 days after data sensing acquisition and use the DORIS Precise Orbit. Geophysical corrections are computed from the Analysis ADFs, however following the oceanographic convention the corrections are available but not directly applied to the range (as for FDM). The ESA CryoSat ThEMatic PrOducts - SWATH Cryo-TEMPO products (CryoTEMPO-EOLIS) exploit CryoSat's SARIn mode and the novel Swath processing technique to deliver increased spatial and temporal coverage of time-dependent elevation over land ice, a critical metric for tracking ice mass trends in support to a wide variety of end-users working in the areas of sea ice, polar oceans, land ice, coastal areas and hydrology. The dataset consists of systematic reprocessing of the entire CryoSat archive to generate new L2-Swath products, increasing data sampling by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude compared with the operational L2 ESA product. In addition, the EOLIS dataset is joined with the ESA L2 Point-Of-Closest-Approach to generate monthly DEM (Digital Elevation Model) products. This dataset will further the ability of the community to analyse and understand trends across the Greenland Ice Sheet margin.
Spatial coverage : World
Temporal coverage : from 2010 to present


Source : FedEO (CEDA-CCI)#

Description : As part of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Sea Level Climate Change Initiative (CCI) project, a number of oceanic indicators of mean sea level changes have been produced from merging satellite altimetry measurements of sea level anomalies. The oceanic indicators dataset consists of static files covering the whole altimeter period, describing the evolution of the project's monthly sea level anomaly gridded product (see separate dataset record).The oceanic indicators that are provided are: 1) the temporal evolution of the global Mean Sea Level (MSL) DOI: 10.5270/esa-sea_level_cci-IND_MSL_MERGED-1993_2015-v_2.0-201612 ;2) the geographic distribution of Mean Sea Level changes (MSLTR) DOI: 10.5270/esa-sea_level_cci-IND_MSLTR_MERGED-1993_2015-v_2.0-201612 ;3) Maps of the amplitude and phase of the annual cycle (MSLAMPH) DOI: 10.5270/esa-sea_level_cci-IND_MSLAMPH_MERGED-1993_2015-v_2.0-201612.The complete collection of v2.0 products from the Sea Level CCI project can be referenced using the following DOI: 10.5270/esa-sea_level_cci-1993_2015-v_2.0-201612.When using or referring to the SL_cci products, please mention the associated DOIs and also use the following citation where a detailed description of the SL_cci project and products can be found:Ablain, M., Cazenave, A., Larnicol, G., Balmaseda, M., Cipollini, P., Faugère, Y., Fernandes, M. J., Henry, O., Johannessen, J. A., Knudsen, P., Andersen, O., Legeais, J., Meyssignac, B., Picot, N., Roca, M., Rudenko, S., Scharffenberg, M. G., Stammer, D., Timms, G., and Benveniste, J.: Improved sea level record over the satellite altimetry era (1993–2010) from the Climate Change Initiative project, Ocean Sci., 11, 67-82, doi:10.5194/os-11-67-2015, 2015.For further information on the Sea Level CCI products, and to register for these products please email: info-sealevel@esa-sealevel-cci.org
Spatial coverage : Greenland
Temporal coverage : from 1993 to 2015


Source : FedEO (CMEMS_MERCATOR)#

Description : '''Short description:''' Altimeter satellite gridded Sea Level Anomalies (SLA) computed with respect to a twenty-year [1993, 2012] mean. The SLA is estimated by Optimal Interpolation, merging the measurement from the different altimeter missions available (see QUID document or http://duacs.cls.fr [http://duacs.cls.fr] pages for processing details). The product gives additional variables (i.e. Absolute Dynamic Topography and geostrophic currents (absolute and anomalies)).This product is processed by the DUACS multimission altimeter data processing system. It serves in near-real time the main operational oceanography and climate forecasting centers in Europe and worldwide. It processes data from all altimeter missions: Jason-3, Sentinel-3A, HY-2A, Saral/AltiKa, Cryosat-2, Jason-2, Jason-1, T/P, ENVISAT, GFO, ERS1/2. It provides a consistent and homogeneous catalogue of products for varied applications, both for near real time applications and offline studies. To produce maps of Sea Level Anomalies (SLA) and Absolute Dynamic Topography (ADT) in delayed-time (REPROCESSED), the system uses the along-track altimeter missions from products called SEALEVELPHY_L3_REP_OBSERVATIONS_008. Finally an Optimal Interpolation is made merging all the flying satellites in order to compute gridded SLA and ADT. The geostrophic currents are derived from sla (geostrophic velocities anomalies, ugosa and vgosa variables) and from adt (absolute geostrophic velicities, ugos and vgos variables). Note that the gridded products can be visualized on the LAS (Live Access Data) Aviso+ web page (http://www.aviso.altimetry.fr/en/data/data-access/las-live-access-server.html [http://www.aviso.altimetry.fr/en/data/data-access/las-live-access-server.html])
Spatial coverage : Global
Temporal coverage : from 1993 to 2020


Source : FedEO (NASA_CMR)#

Description : The Doppler Orbitography by Radiopositioning Integrated on Satellite (DORIS) was developed by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) with cooperation from other French government agencies. The system was developed to provide precise orbit determination and high accuracy location of ground beacons for point positioning. DORIS is a dual-frequency Doppler system that has been included as an experiment on various space missions such as TOPEX/Poseidon, SPOT-2, -3, -4, and -5, Envisat, and Jason satellites. Unlike many other navigation systems, DORIS is based on an uplink device. The receivers are on board the satellite with the transmitters are on the ground. This creates a centralized system in which the complete set of observations is downloaded by the satellite to the ground center, from where they are distributed after editing and processing. An accurate measurment is made of the Doppler shift on radiofrequency signals emitted by the ground beacons and received on the spacecraft.
Spatial coverage : Global
Temporal coverage : from 1990 to present


Source : FedEO (products)#

Description : CryoSat's primary payload is the SAR/Interferometric Radar Altimeter (SIRAL) (https://earth.esa.int/eogateway/instruments/siral) which has extended capabilities to meet the measurement requirements for ice-sheet elevation and sea-ice freeboard. CryoSat also carries three star trackers for measuring the orientation of the baseline. In addition, a radio receiver called Doppler Orbit and Radio Positioning Integration by Satellite (DORIS) and a small laser retroreflector ensures that CryoSat's position will be accurately tracked. More detailed information on CryoSat instruments is available on the CryoSat mission page. The following CryoSat datasets are available and distributed to registered users: Level 1B and L2 Ice products: FDM, LRM, SAR and SARIn Consolidated Level 2 (GDR): (LRM+SAR+SARIN) consolidated ice products over an orbit Intermediate Level 2 Ice products: LRM, SAR and SARIn L1b and L2 Ocean Products: GOP and IOP CryoTEMPO EOLIS Point Products CryoTEMPO EOLIS Gridded Products Detailed information concerning each of the above datasets is available in the CryoSat Products Overview (https://earth.esa.int/eogateway/missions/cryosat/products) and in the news item: CryoSat Ocean Products now open to scientific community (https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/missions/esa-operational-eo-missions/cryosat/news/-/asset_publisher/47bD/content/cryosat-ocean-products-now-open-to-scientific-community). CryoSat Level 1B altimetric products contain time and geo-location information as well as SIRAL measurements in engineering units. Calibration corrections are included and have been applied to the window delay computations. In Offline products, geophysical corrections are computed from Analysis Auxiliary Data Files (ADFs), whereas in FDM products corrections are computed for Forecast ADFs. All corrections are included in the data products and therefore the range can be calculated by taking into account the surface type. The Offline Level 2 LRM, SAR and SARIn ice altimetric products are generated 30 days after data acquisition and are principally dedicated to glaciologists working on sea-ice and land-ice areas. The Level 2 FDM products are near-real time ocean products, generated 2-3 hours after data acquisition, and fulfill the needs of some ocean operational services. Level 2 products contain the time of measurement, the geo-location and the height of the surface. IOP and GOP are outputs of the CryoSat Ocean Processor. These products are dedicated to the study of ocean surfaces, and provided specifically for the needs of the oceanographic community. IOP are generated 2-3 days after data sensing acquisition and use the DORIS Preliminary Orbit. GOP are typically generated 30 days after data sensing acquisition and use the DORIS Precise Orbit. Geophysical corrections are computed from the Analysis ADFs, however following the oceanographic convention the corrections are available but not directly applied to the range (as for FDM). The ESA CryoSat ThEMatic PrOducts - SWATH Cryo-TEMPO products (CryoTEMPO-EOLIS) exploit CryoSat's SARIn mode and the novel Swath processing technique to deliver increased spatial and temporal coverage of time-dependent elevation over land ice, a critical metric for tracking ice mass trends in support to a wide variety of end-users working in the areas of sea ice, polar oceans, land ice, coastal areas and hydrology. The dataset consists of systematic reprocessing of the entire CryoSat archive to generate new L2-Swath products, increasing data sampling by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude compared with the operational L2 ESA product. In addition, the EOLIS dataset is joined with the ESA L2 Point-Of-Closest-Approach to generate monthly DEM (Digital Elevation Model) products. This dataset will further the ability of the community to analyse and understand trends across the Greenland Ice Sheet margin.
Spatial coverage : Global
Temporal coverage : from 2010 to present


GEDI#

Source : EarthData#

Description : The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) instrument aims to characterize ecosystem structure and dynamics to enable radically improved quantification and understanding of the Earth’s carbon cycle and biodiversity.
Spatial coverage : Global
Temporal coverage : from 2019 to present


GOCE#

Source : FedEO (NASA_CMR)#

Description : In Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), a short pulse of coherent light generated by a laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is transmitted in a narrow beam to illuminate corner cube retroreflectors on the satellite. The return signal, typically a few photons, is collected by a telescope and the time-of-flight is measured. Using information about the satellite's orbit, the time-of-flight, and the speed of light, the location of the ranging station can be determined. Similar data acquired by another station, many kilometers distant from the first, or on a different continent, can be used to determine the distance between stations to precisions of centimeters or better. Repetitive measurements over months and years yield the change in distance, or the motion of the Earth's crust.
Spatial coverage : Global
Temporal coverage : from 1976 to present


IceSAT-2-ATL08V2#

Source : EarthData#

Description : This data set (ATL08) contains along-track heights above the WGS84 ellipsoid (ITRF2014 reference frame) for the ground and canopy surfaces.
Spatial coverage : Global
Temporal coverage : from 2018 to present


IceSAT-2-ATL08V3#

Source : EarthData#

Description : This data set (ATL08) contains along-track heights above the WGS84 ellipsoid (ITRF2014 reference frame) for the ground and canopy surfaces.
Spatial coverage : Global
Temporal coverage : from 2018 to present


IceSAT-2-ATL13V2#

Source : EarthData#

Description : This data set (ATL13) contains along-track water surface heights and descriptive statistics for inland water bodies. Water bodies include lakes, reservoirs, bays, and estuaries.
Spatial coverage : Global
Temporal coverage : from 2018 to present


IceSAT-2-ATL13V3#

Source : EarthData#

Description : This data set (ATL13) contains along-track water surface heights and descriptive statistics for inland water bodies. Water bodies include lakes, reservoirs, bays, and estuaries.
Spatial coverage : Global
Temporal coverage : from 2018 to present


TOPEX POSEIDON#

Source : FedEO (CEDA-CCI)#

Description : As part of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Sea Level Climate Change Initiative (CCI) project, a number of oceanic indicators of mean sea level changes have been produced from merging satellite altimetry measurements of sea level anomalies. The oceanic indicators dataset consists of static files covering the whole altimeter period, describing the evolution of the project's monthly sea level anomaly gridded product (see separate dataset record).The oceanic indicators that are provided are: 1) the temporal evolution of the global Mean Sea Level (MSL) DOI: 10.5270/esa-sea_level_cci-IND_MSL_MERGED-1993_2015-v_2.0-201612 ;2) the geographic distribution of Mean Sea Level changes (MSLTR) DOI: 10.5270/esa-sea_level_cci-IND_MSLTR_MERGED-1993_2015-v_2.0-201612 ;3) Maps of the amplitude and phase of the annual cycle (MSLAMPH) DOI: 10.5270/esa-sea_level_cci-IND_MSLAMPH_MERGED-1993_2015-v_2.0-201612.The complete collection of v2.0 products from the Sea Level CCI project can be referenced using the following DOI: 10.5270/esa-sea_level_cci-1993_2015-v_2.0-201612.When using or referring to the SL_cci products, please mention the associated DOIs and also use the following citation where a detailed description of the SL_cci project and products can be found:Ablain, M., Cazenave, A., Larnicol, G., Balmaseda, M., Cipollini, P., Faugère, Y., Fernandes, M. J., Henry, O., Johannessen, J. A., Knudsen, P., Andersen, O., Legeais, J., Meyssignac, B., Picot, N., Roca, M., Rudenko, S., Scharffenberg, M. G., Stammer, D., Timms, G., and Benveniste, J.: Improved sea level record over the satellite altimetry era (1993–2010) from the Climate Change Initiative project, Ocean Sci., 11, 67-82, doi:10.5194/os-11-67-2015, 2015.For further information on the Sea Level CCI products, and to register for these products please email: info-sealevel@esa-sealevel-cci.org
Spatial coverage : Global
Temporal coverage : from 1993 to 2015


TOPEX/POSEIDON#

Source : FedEO (CEDA-CCI)#

Description : As part of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Sea Level Climate Change Initiative (CCI) project, a number of oceanic indicators of mean sea level changes have been produced from merging satellite altimetry measurements of sea level anomalies. The oceanic indicators dataset consists of static files covering the whole altimeter period, describing the evolution of the project's monthly sea level anomaly gridded product (see separate dataset record).The oceanic indicators that are provided are: 1) the temporal evolution of the global Mean Sea Level (MSL) DOI: 10.5270/esa-sea_level_cci-IND_MSL_MERGED-1993_2015-v_2.0-201612 ;2) the geographic distribution of Mean Sea Level changes (MSLTR) DOI: 10.5270/esa-sea_level_cci-IND_MSLTR_MERGED-1993_2015-v_2.0-201612 ;3) Maps of the amplitude and phase of the annual cycle (MSLAMPH) DOI: 10.5270/esa-sea_level_cci-IND_MSLAMPH_MERGED-1993_2015-v_2.0-201612.The complete collection of v2.0 products from the Sea Level CCI project can be referenced using the following DOI: 10.5270/esa-sea_level_cci-1993_2015-v_2.0-201612.When using or referring to the SL_cci products, please mention the associated DOIs and also use the following citation where a detailed description of the SL_cci project and products can be found:Ablain, M., Cazenave, A., Larnicol, G., Balmaseda, M., Cipollini, P., Faugère, Y., Fernandes, M. J., Henry, O., Johannessen, J. A., Knudsen, P., Andersen, O., Legeais, J., Meyssignac, B., Picot, N., Roca, M., Rudenko, S., Scharffenberg, M. G., Stammer, D., Timms, G., and Benveniste, J.: Improved sea level record over the satellite altimetry era (1993–2010) from the Climate Change Initiative project, Ocean Sci., 11, 67-82, doi:10.5194/os-11-67-2015, 2015.For further information on the Sea Level CCI products, and to register for these products please email: info-sealevel@esa-sealevel-cci.org
Spatial coverage : Global
Temporal coverage : from 1993 to 2015


Source : FedEO (NASA_CMR)#

Description : This dataset contains absolute dynamic topography (similar to sea level but with respect to the geoid) binned and averaged monthly on 1 degree grids. The coverage is from October 1992 to December 2010. These data were provided by AVISO (French space agency data provider) to support the CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5) under the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) and was first made available via the JPL Earth System Grid. The dynamic topography are derived from sea surface height measured by several satellites including Envisat, TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1 and OSTM/Jason-2, and referenced to the geoid. Along with this dataset, two additional ancillary data files are included in the same directory which contain the number of observations and standard error co-located on the same 1 degree grids.
Spatial coverage : Global
Temporal coverage : from 1992 to present