CALIPSO Stratospheric Aerosol Profiles from Lidar Satellite

Global stratospheric aerosol profiles derived from the CALIOP lidar instrument on the CALIPSO satellite. The dataset includes parameters like 532 nm total attenuated backscatter, particulate backscatter, extinction, and stratospheric aerosol optical depths on a uniform spatial grid. Data is produced by NASA and CNES from the CALIOP instrument, with the mission concluding in August 2023.

Use Cases

• Analyze global distributions of 532 nm total attenuated backscatter to track volcanic or wildfire aerosol plumes in the stratosphere.
• Calculate stratospheric aerosol optical depth from the provided extinction profiles for climate forcing studies.
• Use particulate backscatter and attenuated scattering ratio fields to characterize aerosol layer properties and composition.
• Validate atmospheric models by comparing simulated aerosol extinction with the gridded satellite-derived profiles.

Strengths

• Derived from the CALIOP lidar instrument providing direct vertical profiles of aerosols.
• Global spatial coverage on a uniform grid from a satellite in the A-Train constellation.
• Based on version 5.00 CALIOP Level 1/2 and V2.00 Polar Stratospheric Mask data products.

Limitations

• Data collection ended with the CALIPSO mission conclusion in August 2023.
• Specific row count, sample size, and temporal resolution are not provided in the description.
• Relies on the accuracy of the underlying Level 1 and Level 2 retrieval algorithms.

Provenance

Source

NASA and the French Space Agency (CNES) CALIPSO mission, processed by LARC_CLOUD.

Collection Method

Collected by the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument on the CALIPSO satellite.

Time Range

Mission launched April 28, 2006; science mission concluded August 1, 2023.

Freshness

Last updated 2023-07-01; mission data collection is complete.

Geography

Global coverage.