This site contains combined browse images of the CALIPSO lidar (CALIOP), Infrared Imaging Radiometer (IIR), and Wide Field Camera (WFC). The CALIOP images primarily comprise the total 532 nm attenuated backscatter signal (the sum of the 532 nm parallel and perpendicular return signals), the perpendicular 532 nm attenuated backscatter signal, and the total 1064 nm attenuated backscatter signal from CALIOP from the Level 1B products, as well as masked information derived from the Level 2 products. A full tutorial of image content is provided here.

The lidar signal strength has been color coded such that blues correspond to molecular scattering and weak aerosol scattering, aerosols generally show up as yellow/red/orange. Stronger cloud signals are plotted in gray scales, while weaker cloud returns are similar in strength to strong aerosol returns and coded in yellows and reds.

The CALIOP 532 nm channels do not recover instantaneously from very strong returns such as those from ocean and land surfaces. Instead, there is a decay which is approximately exponential. Due to this effect, there is often apparent lidar return from beneath the surface. This effect is particularly noticeable in Antarctica where frequent cloud-free atmospheres and a highly reflective surface result in surface signals which apparently extend significantly below the true surface.

When the atmosphere is not clear, varying atmospheric attenuation will modulate the strength of the surface return and the magnitude of the transient recovery. Return signals from very strongly scattering clouds can also produce this effect, although it is not always apparent.

These browse images contain overplots of CloudSat radar reflectivity and cloud mask data. The CloudSat data, taken from the most recent version of the 2B-GEOPROF data products, are imposed on CALIPSO day and night browse images from June 2006 - April 2011, and then only daytime from November 2011 onward when CloudSat went to daylight data collection only.

Page Generated: Fri March 20th, 2026 - 15:32:26 UTC