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Full catalog/CAL_LID_L2_01kmCLay-Standard-V4-51
CAL_LID_L2_01kmCLay-Standard-V4-51·vV4-51·dataset

Cloud layers detected by laser, 1 km (CALIPSO)

CALIPSO Lidar Level 2 1 km Cloud Layer, V4-51
atmosphere NASA LARC_CLOUD Level 2 HDF4
In plain English

What it measures. Information about cloud layers along the satellite's narrow track, sampled roughly every kilometer. It records where clouds sit, viewing geometry, surface lighting and type, and how many distinct layers were found in each column of atmosphere.

How it's made. Built from the CALIOP laser instrument aboard the CALIPSO satellite, which fires light pulses downward and times the echoes; this is a Level-2 product where raw signals have been turned into identified cloud layers.

How & where you'd use it. Helps scientists study where clouds form and how they affect Earth's energy balance and climate.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › CLOUDSATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD PROPERTIESATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD TYPESATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD MICROPHYSICS › CLOUD LIQUID WATER/ICE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2006-06-12 → 2023-06-30
  • Measured byCALIPSO (CALIOP)
  • Processing levelLevel 2
  • FormatsHDF4
  • StatusCOMPLETE

What you can do with it

  • Map air pollutants — NO₂, aerosols, ozone
  • Track greenhouse gases and Earth's energy budget
  • Feed weather and air-quality analysis
Official description

CAL_LID_L2_01kmCLay-Standard-V4-51 is the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) Lidar Level 2 1 km Cloud Layer, Version 4-51 data product. Data for this product was collected using the CALIPSO Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument. Within this layer product are two general classes of data: Column Properties (including position data and viewing geometry) and Layer Properties. The lidar layer products contain column descriptors associated with several 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., aerosol layers) identified within the column. The CALIPSO satellite comprises three instruments: CALIOP, Imaging Infrared Radiometer (IIR), and Wide Field Camera (WFC). CALIPSO is a joint satellite mission between NASA and the French Agency CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales). CALIPSO was launched on April 28, 2006, to study the impact of clouds and aerosols on the Earth's radiation budget and climate. From June 13, 2006, to September 13, 2018, CALIPSO was part of the A-Train constellation for coincident Earth Observations. After September 13, 2018, the satellite was lowered from 705 to 688 km to resume flying in formation with CloudSat, called the C-Train.

Get the data

cal_lid_l2_01kmclay-standard-v4-51_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="CAL_LID_L2_01kmCLay-Standard-V4-51",
    version="V4-51",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from LARC_CLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.