Visualizations by
Kel Elkins
Released on August 11, 2020
ICESat-2 (short for Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite -2), launched Sept. 15, 2018, uses lasers and a very precise detection instrument to measure the elevation of Earth’s surface. ICESat-2 is in a polar orbit which provides high coverage near the poles where ice elevations are changing relatively quickly. This visualization shows one complete orbit ground track.