NASA Logo in the header
Climate and Radiation 
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Past

Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO)

The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellite provided new insight into the role that clouds and atmospheric aerosols (airborne particles) play in regulating Earth's weather, climate, and air quality. CALIPSO combined an active lidar instrument with passive infrared and visible imagers to probe the vertical structure and properties of thin clouds and aerosols over the globe. CALIPSO was launched on April 28, 2006, with the cloud profiling radar system on the CloudSat satellite. CALIPSO and CloudSat were highly complementary and together provided new, never-before-seen 3-D perspectives of how clouds and aerosols form, evolve, and affect weather and climate. CALIPSO and CloudSat flew in formation with three other satellites in the A-train constellation to enable an even greater understanding of our climate system from the broad array of sensors on these other spacecraft. NASA and CNES ended the science mission on August 1, 2023.

Organizations
Launch Date

March 2006

Class

Flight Project

Websites


The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellite provided new insight into the role that clouds and atmospheric aerosols (airborne particles) play in regulating Earth's weather, climate, and air quality. CALIPSO combined an active lidar instrument with passive infrared and visible imagers to probe the vertical structure and properties of thin clouds and aerosols over the globe. CALIPSO was launched on April 28, 2006, with the cloud profiling radar system on the CloudSat satellite. CALIPSO and CloudSat were highly complementary and together provided new, never-before-seen 3-D perspectives of how clouds and aerosols form, evolve, and affect weather and climate. CALIPSO and CloudSat flew in formation with three other satellites in the A-train constellation to enable an even greater understanding of our climate system from the broad array of sensors on these other spacecraft. NASA and CNES ended the science mission on August 1, 2023.

Related Publications

2025. "Analysis of a saline dust storm from the Aralkum Desert – Part 1: Consistency between multisensor satellite aerosol products.", Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 25 (13): 7403-7429 [10.5194/acp-25-7403-2025] [Journal Article/Letter]

2025. "Seasonality biases arise from the interplay of retrieval quality and solar zenith angle effects in passive sensor AOD products.", Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 25 (21): 14333-14351 [10.5194/acp-25-14333-2025] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "Regimes of Cloud Vertical Structure From Active Observations.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 130 (1): [10.1029/2024jd041716] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "Oceanic cloud trends during the satellite era and their radiative signatures.", Climate Dynamics, [10.1007/s00382-024-07396-8] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Near‐Cloud Aerosol Retrieval Using Machine Learning Techniques, and Implied Direct Radiative Effects.", Geophysical Research Letters, 49 (20): [10.1029/2022gl098274] [Journal Article/Letter]

Contact Us

For general inquiries about the Climate and Radiation Laboratory.

Lazaros Oreopoulos

Chief

301-614-6128 lazaros.oreopoulos@nasa.gov
Debbie Compere

Project Support Specialist

301-614-6183 deborah.h.compere@nasa.gov
General inquiries about the scientific programs at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center may be directed to the Center Office of Communications at 1.301.286.8955.