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Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) on the ICESat Mission: Science Measurement Performance since LaunchThe Geoscience Laser Altimeter System is the primary space lidar on NASA's ICESat mission. Since launch in January 2003 GLAS has produced about 544 million measurements of the Earth's surface and atmosphere. It has made global measurements of the Earth's icesheets, land topography and atmosphere with unprecedented vertical resolution and accuracy. GLAS was first activated for science measurements in February 2003. Since then its operation and performance has confirmed many pre-launch expectations and exceed a few of the most optimistic expectations in vertical resolution. However GLAS also suffered an unexpected failure of its first laser, and the GLAS measurements have yielded some surprises in other areas. The talk will give a post launch assessment of the science measurement performance of the GLAS instrument, and compare the science measurements and engineering operation to pre-launch expectations. It also will address some of what has been learned from the GLAS operations and data, which may benefit future space lidar.
Document ID
20040171162
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Sun, Xiao-Li
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Abshire, James B.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Riris, Haris
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
McGarry, Jan
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Sirota, Marcos
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 22, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2004
Subject Category
Geosciences (General)
Meeting Information
Meeting: 2004 Fall American Geophysical Union Meeting
Location: San Francisco, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: December 13, 2004
End Date: December 17, 2004
Sponsors: American Geophysical Union
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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