Comparison of Greenland Ice Sheet topography measured by TOPSAR and airborne laser altimetry

Author

Bindschadler, Robert ; Fahnestock, Mark ; Sigmund, Angela

Author_Institution

Lab. for Hydrospheric Processes, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA

Volume

37

Issue

5

fYear

1999

fDate

9/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2530

Lastpage

2535

Abstract

A digital elevation model (DEM) produced from airborne interferometric synthetic aperture radar (TOPSAR) data of a 5 km×65 km region of the Greenland Ice Sheet is compared with multiple airborne laser altimeter profiles of the same surface. TOPSAR-derived elevation values were calculated on a 10 m×10 m grid. Surface topography at wavelengths greater than one kilometer is accurately reproduced. A planar adjustment of -8 m with along-track and cross-track tilts of 0.17 and 2.4 m/km, respectively, is required to match the two elevation data sets. Residual noise of the TOPSAR data at subkilometer wavelengths is less than two meters. This study underscores the need for independent elevation data for controlling TOPSAR elevation surveys

Keywords

glaciology; hydrological techniques; optical radar; remote sensing by laser beam; remote sensing by radar; spaceborne radar; synthetic aperture radar; terrain mapping; topography (Earth); DEM; Greenland Ice Sheet; InSAR; SAR; TOPSAR; airborne laser altimetry; digital elevation model; elevation; glaciology; hydrological measurement technique; interferometric synthetic aperture radar; laser remote sensing; lidar; polar ice sheet; radar remote sensing; synthetic aperture radar; topography; Digital elevation models; Ice surface; Laser modes; Laser radar; Ocean temperature; Sea measurements; Sea surface; Stress; Surface emitting lasers; Surface topography;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0196-2892

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/36.789648

Filename

789648