CALIPSO: 5 km Cloud and Aerosol Layer Data from Satellite Lidar

CALIPSO, a joint NASA-CNES satellite launched in 2006, provides vertical profiles of clouds and aerosols to study their impact on Earth's climate. The Level 2 data product contains 5 km aerosol layer observations from the CALIOP lidar instrument. This data is part of the international A-Train satellite constellation for coincident Earth observations.

Use Cases

• Modeling the impact of clouds and aerosols on Earth's radiation budget based on vertical layer data.
• Studying atmospheric composition and climate change based on satellite lidar observations.
• Validating atmospheric models based on coincident observations from the A-Train satellite constellation.

Strengths

• Data originates from a joint NASA-CNES satellite mission launched in 2006, providing authoritative observations.
• Part of the A-Train satellite constellation, enabling coincident Earth observations with other instruments.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Satellite observations from the CALIOP lidar instrument.

Time Range

Observations began after the satellite launch on April 28, 2006.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 19:34:41.055451; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage from satellite orbit.