The CALIPSO Mission

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society - Tập 91 Số 9 - Trang 1211-1230 - 2010
David M. Winker1, J. Pelon2, James A. Coakley3, Steven A. Ackerman4, Robert J. Charlson5, Peter R. Colarco6, P. Flamant7, Qiang Fu5, R. Hoff8, C. Kittaka9, T. L. Kubar10, H. Le Treut7, M. P. McCormick11, G. Mégie12, L. R. Poole9, Kathleen A. Powell1, Charles Trepte1, Mark Vaughan1, Bruce A. Wielicki1
1NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton
2SPACE - LATMOS
3College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences [Corvallis]
4Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies
5Department of Atmospheric Sciences [Seattle]
6NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
7Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539)
8University of Maryland Baltimore County
9Science Systems and Applications, Inc. [Hampton]
10Jet Propulsion Laboratory
11Hampton University
12Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace

Tóm tắt

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.

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