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Earth Sciences Division
Past

Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS)

The Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) was an attached payload for the International Space Station (ISS) that measured the location, composition and distribution of pollution, dust, smoke, aerosols and other particulates in the atmosphere. Designed to operate at least six months, CATS had a successful 33-month mission and ceased operations in October 2017.

Launch Date
January 2015
Class
Instrument
Websites
Key Staff
  • Principal Investigator
    Matthew Mcgill

The Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) was an attached payload for the International Space Station (ISS) that measured the location, composition and distribution of pollution, dust, smoke, aerosols and other particulates in the atmosphere. Designed to operate at least six months, CATS had a successful 33-month mission and ceased operations in October 2017.

Related Publications

2026. "The diurnal cycle and temperature dependence of crystal shapes in ice clouds from satellite lidar polarized measurements.", Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 26 (8): 5603-5615 [10.5194/acp-26-5603-2026] [Journal Article/Letter]

2025. "Enhancing Surface PM2.5 Air Quality Estimates in GEOS Using CATS Lidar Data.", Earth and Space Science, 12 (5): [10.1029/2024ea004078] [Journal Article/Letter]

2025. "Evaluation of ICESat-2 ATL09 Atmospheric Products Using CALIOP and MODIS Space-Based Observations.", Remote Sensing, 17 (3): 482 [10.3390/rs17030482] [Journal Article/Letter]

2025. "Statistics of Smoke Sphericity and Optical Properties Using Spaceborne Lidar Measurements.", Remote Sensing, 17 (3): 409 [10.3390/rs17030409] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Big-Time SmallSat Concept: Resolving Variations of Aerosols, Clouds, and Boundary Layer Height.", Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 104 (11): 889-892 [10.1175/bams-d-21-0179.a] [Journal Article/Letter]