Accuracy assessment of ICESat-2 ATL08 terrain estimates: A case study in Spain

Abstract

The Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2), a new spaceborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system, was successfully launched on September 15, 2018. The ICESat-2 data increase the types of spaceborne LiDAR data archive and provide new control point data for large-scale topographic mapping and geodetic surveying. However, the accuracy of the ATL08 terrain estimates has not been fully evaluated on a large scale and in complex terrain conditions. This article aims to quantitatively assess the accuracy of ICESat-2 ATL08 terrain estimates. Firstly, the ICESat-2 ATL08 terrain estimates were compared with the high-precision airborne LiDAR digital terrain model (DTM), and impacts of acquisition time, vegetation cover type, terrain slope, and season change on the terrain estimation accuracy were analyzed. We get the following conclusions from the analysis: 1) the mean and RMSE of the terrain estimates of day acquisitions are 0.22 m and 0.59 m higher than that of night acquisitions; 2) the accuracy of the ATL08 terrain estimates acquired in vegetated areas is lower than those in non-vegetated areas; 3) the accuracy of the ATL08 terrain estimates is inversely proportional to the slope, and the elevation error increases significantly when the terrain slope is larger than 30°; 4) in the non-vegetation covered area, the accuracy of the ATL08 terrain estimates of summer and winter acquisitions has no obvious discrepancy, but in vegetated area, the accuracy of winter acquisitions is significantly better than that of summer acquisitions. This research provides references for the selection and application of ICESat-2 data.

Keywords

ICESat-2 / ATL08 terrain estimates / accuracy assessment / complex terrain / vegetation cover type

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