CALIPSO WFC: 1 km Registered Science Data from the A-Train Satellite

Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) was launched on April 28, 2006 to study the impact of clouds and aerosols on Earth's climate. The satellite flies in formation with five others in the international 'A-Train' constellation. This dataset contains 1 km registered science data from the Wide Field Camera (WFC) instrument, part of a joint mission between NASA and the French space agency CNES.

Use Cases

• Analyzing cloud and aerosol layer properties based on 1 km resolution imagery.
• Studying Earth's radiation budget and climate impact based on coincident observations from the A-Train satellite constellation.
• Validating atmospheric models based on registered science data from the CALIPSO mission.

Strengths

• Data originates from a joint NASA-CNES satellite mission launched on a specific date (April 28, 2006).
• Observations are coordinated with five other satellites in the A-Train constellation for coincident data collection.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Satellite observations from the CALIPSO Wide Field Camera (WFC) instrument.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 19:31:44.197304; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage from satellite orbit.