CALIPSO Satellite Lidar Cloud Layer Profiles

CALIPSO Lidar Level 2 5 km Cloud Layer Data contains atmospheric column and layer properties measured by the CALIOP instrument. The dataset is produced by NASA and the French CNES, with primary data collection from June 2006 to at least September 2018. It provides a global record of cloud layers and their characteristics.

Use Cases

• Analyze cloud layer height and thickness using layer property descriptors to model atmospheric structure.
• Study correlations between surface type indicators and cloud formation patterns from column descriptors.
• Validate climate models by comparing observed column properties like viewing geometry and feature counts with simulations.
• Investigate temporal trends in cloud coverage and properties using the sequence of column descriptors over the mission's time range.

Strengths

• Data collection spans over 12 years from June 2006, providing long-term atmospheric records.
• Provides two general classes of structured data: Column Properties and Layer Properties for detailed analysis.
• Produced by a joint NASA-CNES satellite mission, ensuring authoritative instrument calibration and processing.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, column counts, and data volume are not provided, making resource planning difficult.
• Primary instrument data collection for its core mission constellation ended in September 2018, limiting temporal recency for current conditions.
• Data granularity is at 5 km resolution, which may be too coarse for studying small-scale atmospheric phenomena.

Provenance

Source

NASA and the French Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) via the CALIPSO satellite mission.

Collection Method

Data collected by the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument.

Time Range

From June 13, 2006, to at least September 13, 2018, with possible extensions.

Freshness

Product version (V4-51) metadata was last updated in June 2023, but underlying data collection timeframe is older.

Geography

Global coverage from the satellite's orbit.