NASA Logo in the header
Climate and Radiation 
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Past

Cloud Satellite (CloudSat)

Launched in 2006, CloudSat was the first satellite to use an advanced cloud-profiling radar to "slice" through clouds to see their vertical structure, providing a completely new observational capability from space. The mission furnished data that evaluated and improved the way clouds and precipitation are represented in global models, contributing to better predictions of clouds and their role in climate change. CloudSat orbited in the A-Train -- six Earth-monitoring satellites that fly in a coordinated orbit to advance our understanding of how Earth functions as a system -- until February 2018 and operated in a lower orbit until its science mission ended.

Organizations
Launch Date

March 2006

Class

Flight Project

Websites


Launched in 2006, CloudSat was the first satellite to use an advanced cloud-profiling radar to "slice" through clouds to see their vertical structure, providing a completely new observational capability from space. The mission furnished data that evaluated and improved the way clouds and precipitation are represented in global models, contributing to better predictions of clouds and their role in climate change. CloudSat orbited in the A-Train -- six Earth-monitoring satellites that fly in a coordinated orbit to advance our understanding of how Earth functions as a system -- until February 2018 and operated in a lower orbit until its science mission ended.

Related Publications

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. "Revisiting cloud overlap with a merged dataset of liquid and ice cloud extinction from CloudSat and CALIPSO.", Frontiers in Remote Sensing, 3 [10.3389/frsen.2022.1076471] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "The Radiative Effect on Cloud Microphysics from the Arctic to the Tropics.", Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, [10.1175/bams-d-21-0039.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Biases in CloudSat Falling Snow Estimates Resulting from Daylight-Only Operations.", Remote Sensing, 13 (11): 2041 [10.3390/rs13112041] [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.