ICESat-2 Mission - Trees around the GLOBE

The planet's frozen and icy regions, called the cryosphere, are a key focus of NASA's Earth science research. The NASA Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) will help scientists investigate why, and by how much, the cryosphere is changing in the warming climate. Launched on 15 September, 2018, the ICESat-2 satellite uses an on-board laser altimeter system to measure the height of a changing Earth, one laser pulse at a time at 10,000 pulses a second. These altimeters allow scientists to measure the shifting heights of ice sheets, sea ice, trees, bodies of water and mountains. The satellite also measures Earth's temperate and tropical regions, documenting the vegetation height in forests worldwide.

Learn more about the ICESat-2 Satellite.

Students can compare GLOBE Observer and their own ground-based tree height data, with the space-based ICESat-2 satellite data. This data can then be used in student research projects for Student Research Symposia and the IVSS.

Ground-based tree height data can be compared to the space-based tree height data from the NASA ICESat-2 Mission. Tree height observations from GLOBE represent a single tree, whereas laser photons from the ICESat-2 Mission measure many trees.  Individuals that take GLOBE measurements of multiple trees in a single stand area are more closely mimicking the data scientists use from ICESat-2.

Below are a few examples of tree height data comparisons between GLOBE ground-based tree height observations and the ICESat-2 space-based tree height observations. You can also learn more about satellite data comparisons in the paper, "The potential of citizen science data to complement satellite and airborne lidar tree height measurements: lessons from The GLOBE Program."

As part of the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign, the GLOBE team wants to showcase an online tool that can assist in data analysis, data visualization and imagery analysis. Learn more about NASA's Open Altimetry tool below:

• ICESat-2 Data on Open Altimetry
  • OpenAltimetry is a cyberinfrastructure platform for discovery, access and visualization of data from NASA’s ICESat and ICESat-2 missions. These laser profiling altimeters are used to measure changes in the topography of Earth’s ice sheets, vegetation canopy structure, clouds and aerosols. A new paradigm for data access was required to serve the needs of a diverse scientific community seeking to take advantage of these unique observations. OpenAltimetry, which is the product of a collaboration between the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego, was custom-built to meet these needs.