CALIOP

Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarisation

Satellite

CALIPSO

Status

Operational – Utilised in the period 2006 to ~ 2009

Mission

Aerosol profile, cloud top height

Instrument type

Two-wavelengths lidar (532 and 1064 nm), measurements at two orthogonal polarisations

Scanning technique

Nadir-only viewing, sampling at 330 m intervals along track, near continuous profiling

Coverage/cycle

Global coverage in 16 d (orbit repeat cycle) for cells of 100 km side

Resolution

Horizontal: 70 m IFOV sampled at 333 m intervals along track. Vertical: 30 m

Resources

Mass: 156 kg - Power: 124 W - Data rate: 332 kbps