CATS-ISS: Lidar Profiles of Clouds and Aerosols, 2015-2017

CATS-ISS_L2O_N-M7.2-V3-01_05kmLay is a Level 2 operational data product from the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System lidar instrument on the International Space Station. The collection spans from March 25, 2015 to October 29, 2017, providing vertical profiles of atmospheric aerosols and clouds at three wavelengths. The data is derived from Level 1 inputs at 60m vertical and 5km horizontal resolution.

Use Cases

• Analyze diurnal changes in cloud and aerosol effects based on observations of the same Earth location at different times each day.
• Model vertical profiles of atmospheric aerosols based on lidar measurements at three wavelengths.
• Study cloud properties and distribution based on range-resolved profile measurements from the ISS.
• Investigate aerosol optical properties and backscatter based on the Level 2 geophysical parameters.

Strengths

• Provides vertical profiles at three wavelengths, offering multi-spectral data.
• Data spans from March 25, 2015 to October 29, 2017, covering over two years of observations.
• Offers 60m vertical and 5km horizontal resolution for detailed spatial analysis.
• Instrument operated from the ISS at an altitude of ~230 to ~270 miles with a 51-degree inclination, providing a unique orbital perspective.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data collection ended in 2017; freshness should be verified for current applications.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data derived from Level 1 measurements from the CATS lidar remote sensing instrument on the ISS.

Time Range

March 25, 2015 to October 29, 2017

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 08:49:24.881821; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage from the International Space Station orbit.