Polar ice sheet DEMs and topographic data available from the National Snow and Ice Data Center

The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado archives and distributes several data sets with polar ice sheet digital elevation model (DEM) and topographic data for Greenland and Antarctica. Examples of DEM data sets archived at NSIDC include: Digital SAR Mosaic and Elevation Map of the Greenland Ice Sheet, SEASAT and GEOSAT Altimetry Data for the Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets, and Radarsat Antarctic Mapping Project. NSIDC also plans to archive and distribute data from the Geoscience Laser Altimetry system (GLAS) mission in 2001. A "Polar Ice Sheet DEMs and Topographic Data" web site summarizes NSIDC's various DEM and ice sheet elevation data products. Since the initial Seasat satellite platform in 1978, radar altimetry mapping of Greenland and Antarctica has seen dramatic improvements, with progressively more extensive and detailed coverage of the ice sheets during the last 20 years. NSIDC archives and distributes data Sets from various platforms from the satellite radar altimetry era, in an effort to provide the science community with continued improvement of surface digital elevation models (DEMs) for research in determining ice flow lines and drainage basins, as well as detecting changes in global ice volume.