CALIPSO WFC Level 1B: Calibrated Radiance and Reflectance Grids

CALIPSO satellite data provides calibrated radiance and bidirectional reflectance measurements from its Wide Field Camera, registered to a 1 km Earth grid centered on the lidar track. The dataset, part of the international A-Train constellation launched on April 28, 2006, is designed to study clouds and aerosols for climate research. Version 3.01 includes metadata for improved subsetting and bug corrections.

Use Cases

• Studying cloud microphysics and ice water content based on Level 3 ice cloud extinction histograms.
• Analyzing aerosol radiance and atmospheric reflectance using calibrated WFC Level 1B data.
• Facilitating IIR retrieval algorithms by using WFC data registered to an identical 1 km grid.
• Conducting time-series analysis of cloud and aerosol impacts on climate using data from the A-Train constellation.

Strengths

• Data is validated (Stage 1) and part of a major international satellite mission (CALIPSO) jointly operated by NASA and CNES.
• Version 3.01 includes new metadata parameters (Orbit Number, Path Number) for improved subsetting capabilities.
• Cross-platform presence on datagov and nasa_earthdata signals importance and broad availability.

Limitations

• Critical metadata like row count, file size, and specific column names are consistently missing across all platform entries.
• Conflicting last updated dates exist (2026-04-10 on datagov vs. 2011-11-01 on nasa_earthdata), raising questions about data freshness.
• The Level 3 Ice Cloud product generation ended in December 2016 due to instrument degradation, limiting temporal coverage.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the French Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES).

Collection Method

Collected by the CALIPSO satellite's Wide Field Camera (WFC) instrument during daylight portions of orbits.

Time Range

From launch (April 28, 2006) onward, though specific product collection may have ended (e.g., Level 3 Ice Cloud ended December 2016).

Freshness

2026-04-10 05:34:04.179138 (most recent from datagov)

Geography

Global, registered to an Earth-based grid centered on the satellite's lidar ground track.