Ice sheet surface elevation retrieval from CALIPSO lidar measurements

Abstract

The primary objective of the atmospheric profiling lidar aboard Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) mission launched in April 2006 has been studying the climate impact of clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere. However, CALIPSO lidar also collects information about other components of the Earth’s ecosystem, such as polar ice sheets. The purpose of this study is to propose a new technique to provide high resolution of polar ice sheet surface elevation from CALIPSO single shot lidar measurements (70 m spot size). The new technique relies on an empirical relationship between the peak signal ratio and the distance between the surface and the peak signal range bin center to achieve high altimetry resolution. The ice sheet surface elevation results in the region of Greenland and Antarctic compare very well with the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) laser altimetry measurements. The comparisons suggest that the obtained CALIPSO ice sheet surface elevation by the new technique is accurate to within 1 m. Based on the new technique, the preliminary data product of along-track topography retrieved from the CALIPSO lidar measurements is available to the altimetry community for evaluation.