Applying the science impact framework to understand real-world applications and impacts of ICESat and ICESat-2 data on decision-making

Abstract

Assessing the societal impact of satellite remote sensing datasets is essential to understanding how these data influence decision-making and to identifying opportunities for further engagement. However, measuring such impacts remains challenging for missions serving diverse stakeholder communities. In this study, we evaluate the broader impact of NASA's Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) and its successor mission, ICESat-2 by adapting the scientific impact framework (SIF), originally developed to assess public health research, into an Earth science-specific version (e-SIF). This framework captures data dissemination, community awareness, data-driven actions, measurable changes, and future influence, moving beyond traditional academic metrics to assess the missions' reach and effectiveness. Our findings reveal extensive global usage of ICESat and ICESat-2 data, with applications including, but not limited to, shallow water bathymetry, climate mitigation strategies, and forest management. By comparing the prevalence of topical areas in academic literature to real-world applications, we found that althoughthe cryosphere is the most frequently studied domain, differences between research focus and practical use highlight potential areas where further research could better support stakeholders. We found that ICESat and ICESat-2 data are widely employed by national and international governmental and non-governmental organizations but found only limited use by private sector and local governments. We recommend that the ICESat-2 Applications Team expand outreach efforts to these sectors to enhance dissemination of mission data. Furthermore, numerous ICESat-2 applications benefit from long-term data continuity, reinforcing the need for a successor mission. This study demonstrates the feasibility to use e-SIF to evaluate the impact of Earth science missions.