CATS-ISS: Lidar Profiles of Clouds and Aerosols from the International Space Station

A 30-day collection from February 20, 2015 to March 21, 2015 of atmospheric profile data from the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) lidar instrument on the International Space Station. The data, produced by NASA, provides vertical profiles of clouds and aerosols at three wavelengths with a 60-meter vertical and 5-kilometer horizontal resolution. It was the first space-based lidar to enable the study of diurnal changes in cloud and aerosol effects from the ISS.

Use Cases

• Modeling diurnal changes in cloud effects based on the instrument's ability to observe the same spot at different times.
• Analyzing vertical aerosol transport based on range-resolved profile measurements.
• Studying cloud microphysical properties based on three-wavelength lidar backscatter data.
• Validating climate and weather models based on high-resolution atmospheric profile data.

Strengths

• Provides vertical profiles at three wavelengths, offering multi-spectral information.
• Features a high 60-meter vertical and 5-kilometer horizontal resolution for detailed atmospheric structure.
• Covers a specific 30-day operational period from February to March 2015.

Limitations

• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect temporal bias inherent to its specific one-month collection window.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data derived from Level 1 measurements collected by the CATS lidar instrument on the International Space Station.

Time Range

February 20, 2015 to March 21, 2015

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 05:51:25.626428; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage from the ISS orbit between approximately 230 and 270 miles above Earth's surface.