The minimum detectable reflectivity factor requirement was reduced to -26 dBZ when the mission was changed to put CloudSat into a higher orbit for formation flying. To achieve sufficient cloud detection sensitivity, a relatively low frequency (i.e. <94 GHz) radar would require an enormous antenna and high peak power.

CloudSat Standard Data Products are distributed by the CloudSat Data Processing Center, located at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

CloudSat made a near eye overpass of Tropical Cyclone Billy on December 25th, 2008 as the storm moved off the coast of Western Australia. The storm contained winds of 60 mph (100 km/hr) at the time of this overpass.

Cloudsat Radar Reflectivity and MYD06 Tau Cloud Property Retrieval using Z, Tau, Radar-Lidar Cloud Boundaries in uniform scenes over ocean with 1 layer – i.e. where the MYD06 Tau is most accurate.

CloudSat is an experimental satellite that will use radar to study clouds and precipitation from space. CloudSat will fly in orbital formation as part of the A-Train constellation of satellites (Aqua, CloudSat, CALIPSO, PARASOL, and Aura).

Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest videos from the CloudSat mission.

Goals Generate a CloudSat-based global precipitation dataset and establish the distribution of light rainfall light global Examine coincident observations from AMSR-E and assess the performance of conventional PMW precipitation algorithms in light rainfall regimes Analyze distributions of rainfall in clean and turbid air masses to:

Orbiting the Earth for a decade means that CloudSat has amassed an incredible amount of data about tropical cyclones (and far more about normal clouds and precipitation), even despite the battery anomaly it had in 2011 which limited it to only gathering data during daylight hours.

Rationale: CALIPSO operated a 3° pitch for ten (10) days in November 2006 Objective of these measurements was to assess LIDAR depolarization performance when measuring clouds with oriented ice crystals. Data analysis shows that CALIPSO performs better at the revised satellite pitch CloudSat footprint ~ 1.2km separated by 1080 meters 1, 2007 ...

Utilizing measurements from CALIPSO and other instruments to investigate evolution, formation, and composition of PSCs Aura MLS water vapor and nitric acid measurements as constraints on formation thresholds and optical properties