ICESat-2 mission overview and early performance

The Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite – 2 (ICESat-2) satellite mission launched in September 2018 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California USA. The sole instrument is the photon-counting lidar Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS). Optimized to measure elevation change over the polar ice sheets and sea ice freeboard, ATLAS collects data globally. ICESat-2 data was released to the public in May 2019, and initial science discoveries are beginning to appear in the scientific literature. We describe the main components of the ICESat-2 mission, the standard data products, and our initial assessment of the on-orbit performance of the ATLAS instrument.