HR: 1340h
AN: A23A-0925    [Abstracts]
TI: First Results from CALIPSO
AU: * winker, d
EM: david.m.winker@nasa.gov
AB: Satellite lidars are beginning to add significant new capabilities for remote sensing of the atmosphere from space. The CALIPSO mission, scheduled for launch this fall, carries the first polar orbiting lidar optimized for atmospheric sensing, which will also be the first polarization lidar in space. In addition to the lidar, CALIPSO carries passive infrared and visible imagers. Together, these instruments will provide unique measurements to improve our understanding of the role of aerosols and clouds in the Earth's climate system. The CALIPSO lidar will observe aerosol above cloud, below thin cloud, and between broken cloud, aiding studies of aerosol-cloud interactions. The polarization-sensitive lidar has the capability to unambiguously identify the ice-water phase of clouds as well as identify hydrated aerosol. CALIPSO will fly in formation with the A-train. Coincident observations with CloudSat will provide for the first time a capability to profile all clouds, from thin cirrus to deep convection, on a global scale. First results and capabilities will be discussed.
DE: 0305 Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801, 4906)
DE: 0319 Cloud optics
DE: 0368 Troposphere: constituent transport and chemistry
DE: 0394 Instruments and techniques
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005