CEOS EO HANDBOOK – MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTS
Measurements > Atmosphere >
Cloud particle properties and profile >
Cloud optical depth


Measurement Definition*: Impact of the cloud water column on radiation propagation - Physical unit: [ dimensionless ] - Accuracy unit: [ % ].

Thematic Links
InstrumentStatus/
Accuracy
Instrument DescriptionMeasurement TechnologyTimeline
ABI
Advanced Baseline Imager
Operational
Detects clouds, cloud properties, water vapour, land and sea surface temperatures, dust, aerosols, volcanic ash, fires, total ozone, snow and ice cover, vegetation index.n/a
AMI
Advanced Meteorological Imager
Operational
Continuous monitoring capability for the near real-time generation of high-resolution meteorological products and long-term change analysis of land/sea surface temperature and cloud coverage.n/a
ATLAS
Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System
Operational
Provide date on ice sheet height and sea ice thickness, land altitude, aerosol height distributions, cloud height and boundary layer height.n/a
CALIOP
Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization
Operational
Two-wavelength, polarisation lidar capable of providing aerosol and cloud profiles and properties.Atmospheric lidar
EPIC
Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera
Operational
Diurnal measurements of ozone, sulfur dioxide, UV surface radiation, clouds, aerosols and vegetation.n/a
MODIS
MODerate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
Operational
Data on biological and physical processes on the surface of the Earth and in the lower atmosphere, and on global dynamics. Surface temperatures of land and ocean, chlorophyll fluorescence, land cover measurements, cloud cover (day and night).n/a
OLCI
Ocean and Land Colour Imager
Operational
Marine and land services.n/a
SGLI
Second-generation Global Imager
Operational
+/-100 %
Medium resolution multi-spectral imaging of land, ocean and atmosphere. SGLI-VNR is an optical sensor capable of multi-channel nadir observation at wavelengths from near-UV to NIR and forward or backward polarization observation at red and near infrared wavelengths (Push-broom scanning). SGLI-IRS is an optical sensor capable of multi-channel nadir observation at wavelengths from SWIR to TIR wavelengths (Cross-track scanning).n/a
VIIRS
Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite
Operational
Global observations of land, ocean, and atmosphere parameters: cloud/weather imagery, sea-surface temperature, ocean colour, land surface vegetation indices.n/a
CPR (EarthCARE)
Cloud Profiling Radar (EarthCARE)
Being developed
Measurement of cloud properties, light precipitation, vertical motion.n/a
FCI
Flexible Combined Imager
Being developed
Measurements of cloud cover, cloud top height, precipitation, cloud motion, vegetation, radiation fluxes, convection, air mass analysis, cirrus cloud discrimination, tropopause monitoring, stability monitoring, total ozone and sea surface temperature.n/a
GEOXO Imager
GEO Extended Operations Imager
Being developed
Detects clouds, cloud properties, water vapour, land and sea surface temperatures, dust, aerosols, volcanic ash, fires, total ozone, snow and ice cover, vegetation index.n/a
METimage
Multi Spectral Imager
Being developed
Operational multi spectral imager for meteorological EPS-SG VIS/IR Imaging Mission (VII): imagery data for global and regional NWP, NWC, and climate monitoring with information on LST, SST, clouds coverage and micro-physics, land surfaces (vegetation, snow/ice, fire), aerosol and atmospheric motion vectors. Provides collocated cloud mask & characterisation as well as intra-pixel heterogeneity to other EPS-SG missions (with larger footprint).n/a
ATLID
ATmospheric LIDar
Approved
Derivation of cloud and aerosol properties - Measurement of molecular and particle backscatter in Rayleigh, co-polar and cross-polar Mie channels.Atmospheric lidar
MSI (EarthCARE)
Multi-Spectral Imager (EarthCARE)
Approved
Observation of cloud properties and aerosol (aerosols to be confirmed).n/a
ALADIN-2
Atmospheric Laser Doppler Instrument - 2
Proposed
Global wind profiles (single line-of-sight) for an improved weather prediction.n/a
* Description adapted from WMO.