CALIPSO Mission

Objectives and Applications

3-year nominal mission life, currently in extended operations. Measurements of aerosol and cloud properties for climate predictions, using a 3 channel lidar and passive instruments in formation with CloudSat for coincident observations of radiative fluxes and atmospheric state.

Mission Summary

Full Name
Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations
Mission Status
Mission complete
Mission Agencies
Launch Date
28 Apr 2006
Mission Links
EOL Date
31 Jul 2023
EO Portal Info

Orbit Details

Orbit Type
Sun-synchronous
Orbit Period
98.3 minutes
Orbit Sense
Ascending
Orbit Inclination
98.2 deg
Orbit Altitude
685 km
Orbit Longitude
Orbit LST
Repeat Cycle
NORAD Catalog #
International Designator

Mission Instruments

CALIOP - Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization
IIR - Imaging Infrared Radiometer
WFC - Wide Field Camera

Mission Measurements

CategoryParameterInstrument(s)
AtmosphereAerosols CALIOP
Cloud type, amount and cloud top temperature CALIOP, IIR, WFC
Cloud particle properties and profile CALIOP
Atmospheric Temperature Fields CALIOP