CALIPSO is a joint

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

(USA) and

CNES The (CNES; French: ''Centre national d'études spatiales'') is the French government space agency (administratively, a "public administration with industrial and commercial purpose"). Its headquarters are located in central Paris and it is un ...

(France) environmental satellite, built in the

Cannes Mandelieu Space Center The Cannes Mandelieu Space Center is an industrial plant dedicated to spacecraft manufacturing, located in both the towns of Cannes and Mandelieu in France. After a long history in aircraft manufacturing, starting in 1929, the center became incre ...

, which was launched atop a

Delta II Delta II was an expendable launch system, originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas. Delta II was part of the Delta rocket family and entered service in 1989. Delta II vehicles included the Delta 6000, and the two later Delta 7000 v ...

rocket on April 28, 2006. Its name stands for Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations. CALIPSO Launched Alongside

CloudSat CloudSat is a NASA Earth observation satellite, which was launched on a Delta II rocket on April 28, 2006. It uses radar to measure the altitude and properties of clouds, adding to information on the relationship between clouds and climate in ord ...

. Passive and active remote sensing Instruments on board the CALIPSO satellite monitor aerosols and clouds 24 hours a day. CALIPSO is part of the " A Train", flying in formation with several other satellites ( Aqua, Aura and

Mission

Three instruments: * Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) - a

lidar Lidar (, also LIDAR, or LiDAR; sometimes LADAR) is a method for determining ranges (variable distance) by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. It can also be ...

that provides high-resolution vertical profiles of

aerosol An aerosol is a suspension of fine solid particles or liquid droplets in air or another gas. Aerosols can be natural or anthropogenic. Examples of natural aerosols are fog or mist, dust, forest exudates, and geyser steam. Examples of ant ...

s and

cloud In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...

s. * Wide Field Camera (WFC) - a modified version of the commercial off-the-shelf

Ball Aerospace Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. is an American manufacturer of spacecraft, components and instruments for national defense, civil space and commercial space applications. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ball Corporation ( NYSE: B ...

br>CT-633
star tracker camera. It was selected to match band 1 of the

MODIS The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a satellite-based sensor used for earth and climate measurements. There are two MODIS sensors in Earth orbit: one on board the Terra ( EOS AM) satellite, launched by NASA in 19 ...

instrument on the Aqua satellite. * Imaging Infrared Radiometer (IIR) - used to detect

cirrus cloud Cirrus ( cloud classification symbol: Ci) is a genus of high cloud made of ice crystals. Cirrus clouds typically appear delicate and wispy with white strands. Cirrus are usually formed when warm, dry air rises, causing water vapor deposition on ...

emissivity and particle size. The CALIOP laser beam is aligned with the center of the IIR image to optimize joint CALIOP/IIR observations. In February 2009, CALIPSO switched over to the redundant laser as scheduled. The primary laser achieved its mission goal of three years of successful operation, and the redundant laser has been performing beyond expectations. The CALIPSO mission was granted extended mission status in June 2009.

References

External links

CALIPSO OutreachThe CALIPSO page at NASAThe CALIPSO page at French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES)CALIPSO Mission Profile
b
NASA's Solar System ExplorationCALIPSO specs at NASA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calipso Earth observation satellites of the United States Environmental science Satellites orbiting Earth Satellite meteorology Satellites of France Spacecraft launched by Delta II rockets Spacecraft launched in 2006 NASA satellites 2006 in France

Mission

See also

References

External links