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Full catalog/CAL_LID_L2_VFM-Standard-V5-00
CAL_LID_L2_VFM-Standard-V5-00·vV5-00·dataset

What each sky layer is: cloud, dust or clear (CALIPSO)

CALIPSO Lidar Level 2 Vertical Feature Mask (VFM), V5-00
atmosphere NASA LARC_CLOUD Level 2 HDF4
In plain English

What it measures. A layer-by-layer labeling of what the laser found in the sky, classifying each slice as cloud, aerosol like dust or smoke, or clear air, along with land/water indicators.

How it's made. Derived from the CALIOP laser instrument on the CALIPSO satellite as a Level 2 product that interprets the raw laser returns into scene types.

How & where you'd use it. Helps researchers map where clouds and airborne particles sit in the atmosphere, supporting studies of how they shape weather and climate.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD TYPESATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD PROPERTIESATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › DUST/ASH/SMOKEATMOSPHERE › 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_VFM-Standard-V5-00 is the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) Lidar Level 2 Vertical Feature Mask (VFM) data product. This data product was collected using the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument. The CALIOP Level 2 VFM data product contains scene classification and lidar lighting and land/water indicators. CALIPSO was a partnership between NASA and the French Space Agency, CNES. CALIPSO was launched on April28, 2006 to study the many roles played by clouds and aerosols in Earth’s climate and weather. It flew in the international A-Train constellation for coincident Earth observations from launch until September 13, 2018, when CALIPSO began lowering its orbit from 705 km to 688 km (428 miles)above the Earth to resume formation flying with CloudSat as part of the “C-Train”. The CALIPSO satellite carried three remote sensing instruments: the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP), the Imaging Infrared Radiometer (IIR), and the Wide Field-of-View Camera(WFC). By mutual agreement between NASA and CNES, the CALIPSO science mission concluded on August 1, 2023.

Get the data

cal_lid_l2_vfm-standard-v5-00_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="CAL_LID_L2_VFM-Standard-V5-00",
    version="V5-00",
    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.