29108 - CALIPSO

CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation) is an American-French (NASA-CNES) meteorological satellite that was launched by a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg AFB at 11:02 UT on 2006 April 28. It works in concert with the co-launched CLOUDSAT, as well as the three older satellites (AQUA, PARASOL, and AURA), all these five forming what is called the A-Train. The A-Train satellites have almost the same orbit, all crossing the equator within 15 minutes. CALIPSO carries three instruments:

CALIOP (Cloud Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization) carries a two-wavelength (1064 nm, and 532 nm) pulsed transmitter, and receivers fed by a one-meter diameter telescope. The 1064 nm channel monitors the reflected intensity, and two other channels monitor the two orthogonal polarizations. It enables derivation of the vertical distribution of aerosols and water vapor at a resolution of 40 meters.

IIR (Imaging Infrared Radiometer) will image the clouds at three wavelengths: 8.65, 10.6, and 12.0 micrometers in swaths of 64 km x 64 km. The CALIOP beam will be centered on the swath. The wavelength range is selected to obtain the emissivity of cirrus clouds. The detector is a single microbolometer shared by the three wavelengths.

WFC (Wide Field Camera) is an off-the-shelf commercial star tracker camera that will take pictures in the 270-620 nm band.

The initial orbital parameters were period 98.5 min, apogee 689 km, perigee 687 km, and inclination 98.2 deg.

Alternate Names

Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation

Facts in Brief

Launch Date: 2006-04-28
Launch Vehicle: Delta II
Launch Site: Vandenberg AFB, United States