ASDC | CAL_LID_L2_333mMLay-Standard-V5-00

CALIPSO Level 2

Entry Title: CALIPSO Lidar Level 2 1/3 km Merged Layer, V5-00

Entry ID: CAL_LID_L2_333mMLay-Standard-V5-00

Aerosols Clouds

Description

CAL_LID_L2_333mMLay-Standard-V5-00 is the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) Lidar Level 2 333 m Merged Layer data product. This data product was collected using the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument.

Within this cloud and aerosol layer product, generated at a horizontal resolution of 333 m (single shot resolution), are two general classes of data: Column Properties (including position data and viewing geometry) and Layer Properties. The merged layer products consist of a sequence of column descriptors, each associated with a variable number of cloud and aerosol layer descriptors. The column descriptors specify the temporal and geophysical location of the column of the atmosphere through which a given lidar pulse travels. Also included in the column descriptors are indicators of surface lighting conditions, information about the surface type, and the number of features (e.g., cloud and aerosol layers) identified within the column. For each feature within a column, a set of layer descriptors is reported. The layer descriptors provide information about the spatial and optical characteristics of a feature, such as base and top altitudes, integrated attenuated backscatter, and optical depth.

CALIPSO was a partnership between NASA and the French Space Agency, CNES.

CALIPSO was launched on April 28, 2006 to study the many roles played by clouds and aerosols in Earth’s climate and weather. It flew in the international A-Train constellation for coincident Earth observations from launch until September 13, 2018, when CALIPSO began lowering its orbit from 705 km to 688 km (428 miles) above the Earth to resume formation flying with CloudSat as part of the “C-Train”. The CALIPSO satellite carried three remote sensing instruments: the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP), the Imaging Infrared Radiometer (IIR), and the Wide Field-of-View Camera (WFC). By mutual agreement between NASA and CNES, the CALIPSO science mission concluded on August 1, 2023.

DOI

10.5067/CALIOP/CALIPSO/CAL_LID_L2_333mMLay-Standard-V5-00

Citation Styles for this Dataset

Resources and Documentation

Earthdata Forum

PROJECT HOME PAGE

CALIPSO Project Home Page

French (CNES) CALIPSO Home Page

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DATA CITATION GUIDELINES

How to cite ASDC data

PRODUCT QUALITY ASSESSMENT

CALIPSO Data Description and Quality Summary – CALIOP Level 2 Layer

PRODUCT USAGE

CALIPSO Data Products Catalog - Release 5.00

USER'S GUIDE

From GCMD Science Keywords:

AEROSOL OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESS
AEROSOL BACKSCATTER
CLOUD TYPES
AEROSOLS
CLOUD TOP PHASE > CLOUD PROPERTIES

Aerosol Type
Backscatter
Depolarization Ratio
Color Ratio
Optical Depth
Scene Classification
Cloud Phase
Aerosol Species

Data Distribution

File Format(s):

HDF4

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Spatial Information

Spatial Coverage: (S: -90, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Spatial Coverage Type: Horizontal Vertical
Coordinate System: Cartesian
Granule Spatial Representation: Cartesian

Locations

GLOBAL

Temporal Information

Temporal Coverage: 2006-06-12 - 2023-07-01

Platforms

Earth Observation Satellites

CALIPSO

Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations

CALIOP

Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization

Metadata Dates

Created on 2025-05-20