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NASA ARSET_ Techniques for Plotting and Analyzing ATL24 Coastal Bathymetry Part 2
2:02:33

NASA ARSET_ Techniques for Plotting and Analyzing ATL24 Coastal Bathymetry Part 2

0:00 / 2:02:33

The Story

Welcome to Part 2 of our specialized series on coastal remote sensing and altimetry data: "NASA ARSET: Techniques for Plotting and Analyzing ATL24 Coastal Bathymetry Part 2."
In this episode of the NASA Live Video Podcast, we advance from our foundational overview into the practical, hands-on programming and analytical workflows required to process coastal data. Mapping the shallow waters of our global coastlines is critical for marine navigation, habitat conservation, and coastal vulnerability assessments—and NASA's ICESat-2 ATL24 product provides some of the most precise spaceborne LiDAR bathymetry data available today.
Through the framework of NASA’s Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) program, we dive deep into the technical methods used to plot and analyze these complex photon-return profiles. We discuss how to handle the ATL24 HDF5 data structure, utilize open-source Python libraries (such as h5py, pandas, and matplotlib) for visualization, isolate sea-surface vs. sea-floor returns, and account for water column refraction to ensure highly accurate depth measurements along dynamic coastal zones.
Whether you are a marine scientist, a coastal engineer, a GIS developer, or a space enthusiast eager to see how advanced laser altimetry maps the ocean floor from orbit, this second installment delivers essential technical insights. Subscribe to the NASA Live Video Podcast to catch up on Part 1 and stay connected with the absolute frontier of space exploration, remote sensing, and cutting-edge earth science!