The CALIPSO Mission

TLDR

Aerosols and clouds influence Earth's climate by affecting the radiation budget and the water cycle, yet gaps in their global distribution and properties limit climate model accuracy and predictions. The paper aims to overview the CALIPSO mission, its instruments, data, and early results, highlighting its role in observing aerosols and clouds from space. CALIPSO carries the CALIOP lidar—two wavelengths with polarization sensitivity—plus visible and thermal infrared passive sensors to profile aerosols and clouds. CALIPSO’s CALIOP lidar delivers the first long‑term, high‑resolution atmospheric measurements, using profiling and polarization to map aerosol and cloud distributions, thereby advancing climate understanding and prediction.

Abstract

Aerosols and clouds have important effects on Earth's climate through their effects on the radiation budget and the cycling of water between the atmosphere and Earth's surface. Limitations in our understanding of the global distribution and properties of aerosols and clouds are partly responsible for the current uncertainties in modeling the global climate system and predicting climate change. The CALIPSO satellite was developed as a joint project between NASA and the French space agency CNES to provide needed capabilities to observe aerosols and clouds from space. CALIPSO carries CALIOP, a two-wavelength, polarization-sensitive lidar, along with two passive sensors operating in the visible and thermal infrared spectral regions. CALIOP is the first lidar to provide long-term atmospheric measurements from Earth's orbit. Its profiling and polarization capabilities offer unique measurement capabilities. Launched together with the CloudSat satellite in April 2006 and now flying in formation with the A-train satellite constellation, CALIPSO is now providing information on the distribution and properties of aerosols and clouds, which is fundamental to advancing our understanding and prediction of climate. This paper provides an overview of the CALIPSO mission and instruments, the data produced, and early results.