ICESat-2 Mission: Contributions of a spaceborne lidar to ocean science

The Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 carries a laser altimeter capable of measuring the height of Earth’s surface with an accuracy of a few centimeters over flat terrain. To date, the data from ICESat-2 span nearly 4 years, and the observatory remains healthy, and could continue to collect data for a decade or longer. Early explorations with ICESat-2 data over oceans have demonstrated the potential for contributions to ocean topography, ocean biology, and shallow-water bathymetry. This paper reviews the measurement concept, data quality, and results to date from a variety of ocean studies. While none have yet exploited the global nature of these data, the growing time series of ocean laser altimetry from ICESat-2 suggests the tremendous potential of these data. (Abstract)