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    • CDDIS_SLR_data

    Metadata Updated: April 10, 2026

    In Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), a short pulse of coherent light generated by a laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is transmitted in a narrow beam to illuminate corner cube retroreflectors on the satellite. The return signal, typically a few photons, is collected by a telescope and the time-of-flight is measured. Using information about the satellite's orbit, the time-of-flight, and the speed of light, the location of the ranging station can be determined. Similar data acquired by another station, many kilometers distant from the first, or on a different continent, can be used to determine the distance between stations to precisions of centimeters or better. Repetitive measurements over months and years yield the change in distance, or the motion of the Earth's crust.

    Access & Use Information

    Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Created Date January 31, 2023
    Metadata Updated Date April 10, 2026

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NASA Data.json

    Other Data Resources

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Created Date January 31, 2023
    Metadata Updated Date April 10, 2026
    Publisher CDDIS
    Maintainer
    Identifier C1000000041-CDDIS
    Data First Published 1982-01-01
    Language en-US
    Data Last Modified 2025-03-31
    Category ILRS, geospatial
    Public Access Level public
    Bureau Code 026:00
    Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
    Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
    Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
    Harvest Object Id d2eb9e55-58c7-41f1-800c-97163408a0e7
    Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
    Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
    Homepage URL https://cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov:443/search/concepts/C1000000041-CDDIS.html
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial -180.0 -90.0 180.0 90.0
    Program Code 026:001
    Source Datajson Identifier True
    Source Hash ee4ad461a4fb40beee9d35015a85fcbc8872175deaaa4d51a183090acac8c3d6
    Source Schema Version 1.1
    Spatial
    Temporal 1976-01-02T00:00:00Z/2022-01-17T00:00:00Z

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