Calipso

The Franco-American CALIPSO (Cloud Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations) mission was selected by NASA as part of the Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) programme to provide a unique set of data on the vertical profiles of the atmosphere measured by a Lidar on board a satellite.

The CALIPSO satellite, which uses a PROTEUS platform, carries a payload composed of a backscatter Lidar, the main instrument equipped with a 1 metre telescope, a visible spectrum camera, and an infrared imager provided by France.

CALIPSO flies in tandem with the CLOUDSAT radar satellite, and they are both part of the A-Train, a constellation of satellites devoted to observing clouds, aerosols and the water cycle.