CALIPSO IIR: Infrared Radiance from the A-Train

Global satellite data from the CALIPSO mission's Imaging Infrared Radiometer (IIR) provides calibrated radiances on a 1 km grid centered on the lidar track. The dataset, part of the international A-Train constellation, supports the study of clouds and aerosols for climate research. Data collection began after the satellite's launch on April 28, 2006, and the mission concluded on August 1, 2023.

Use Cases

• Analyzing cloud microphysical properties based on calibrated infrared radiance measurements.
• Studying aerosol-cloud interactions using co-located lidar and infrared radiometer data.
• Validating climate model simulations of radiative forcing with global, geolocated satellite observations.
• Investigating the spatial distribution of ice clouds using the associated Level 3 ice cloud product.

Strengths

• Data is geolocated and calibrated, providing a standardized physical measurement for analysis.
• Cross-platform presence on datagov and nasa_earthdata signals established importance and curation.
• Data is registered to a specific 1 km spatial grid, enabling precise geospatial analysis.

Limitations

• Specific column names and data volume (rows/size) are not provided in the available metadata.
• There is a conflict in mission status descriptions: one source states data collection is 'ongoing', while another states the science mission concluded on August 1, 2023.
• License information is incomplete, listed only as 'other-license-specified' without details.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the French Space Agency (CNES) via the CALIPSO satellite mission.

Collection Method

Collected by the Imaging Infrared Radiometer (IIR) instrument aboard the CALIPSO satellite.

Time Range

2006-04-28 to 2023-08-01

Freshness

2026-03-13 07:25:19.029824

Geography

Global