The Architecture of the CloudSat Mission
This paper describes the CloudSat mission, a recent winner of the NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder mission competition.
CloudSat Architecture CloudSat Mission Space Missi↗
SEARCH · Engineering Papers
Results for “CloudSat”
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Development status of the cloud profiling radar for the CloudSat mission
The Cloud Profiling Radar, the primary science instrument of the CloudSat Mission, is a 94-GHz nadir-looking radar that measures the power backscattered by clouds as a function of distance from the radar.
CPR CloudSat cloud vertical profiling↗
The CloudSat mission
The CloudSat mission deploys the first spaceborne 94 GHz cloud profiling radar in space. The mission was selected under the NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder Program with a scheduled launch for the later part of 2004.
CloudSat↗
The CloudSat mission: status and plans
CloudSat will be the first spaceborne deployment of a 94-GHz cloud profiling radar.
CloudSat cloud radar↗
CloudSat system engineering: techniques that point to a future success
We discuss the CloudSat Project.
CloudSat system engineering success project manage↗
CloudSat: Status and Prospects
CloudSat is a proposed space mission to measure the vertical strucure of clouds. Current spaceborne observational systems only characterize the uppermost cloud layer.
CloudSat Clouds Radar microwave radiometer spectra↗
Cloud profiling radar for the CloudSat Mission
The CloudSat Mission is a new satellite mission jointly developed by NASA, JPL, the Canadian Agency, Colorado State University, and the US AirForce to acquire a global data set of vertical cloud structure and its variability.
vertical profiling↗
Cloudsat Radar Instrument Design and Development Status
The Cloud Profiling Radar is the key science instrument for the CloudSat Mission to acquire a global data set of vertical atmospheric cloud structure and its variability. CPR is a 94 GHz nadir-looking radar that measures the power backscattered by clouds as a function of distance from the radar. This sensor is expected to provide cloud measurements at a 500-m vertical resolution and a 1.5-km horizontal resolution. CPR will operate in a short pulse mode and will yield measurements at a minimum detectable sensitivity of -28 dBZ.
CloudSat radar↗
A 94 GHz RF Electronics Subsystem for the CloudSat Cloud Profiling Radar
The CloudSat spacecraft, scheduled for launch in 2004, will carry the 94 GHz Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) instrument. The design, assembly and test of the flight Radio Frequency Electronics Subsystem (RFES) for this instrument has been completed and is presented here. The RFES consists of an Upconverter (which includes an Exciter and two Drive Amplifiers (DA's)), a Receiver, and a Transmitter Calibrator assembly. Some key performance parameters of the RFES are as follows: dual 100 mW pulse-modulated drive outputs at 94 GHz, overall Receiver noise figure < 5.0 dB, a highly stable W-band noise source to provide knowledge accuracy of Receiver gain of < 0.4 dB over the 2 year mission life, and a W-band peak power detector to monitor the transmitter output power to within 0.5 dB over life. Some recent monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) designs were utilized which implement the DA's in 0.1 micron GaAs high electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) technology and the Receiver low-noise amplifier (LNA) in 0.1 micron InP HEMT technology.
radio frequency electronics subsystem (RFES)↗
NASA Spaceborne Radar Missions: CloudSat and QuickScat: To Observe Clouds and Sea Surface Winds
CloudSat is a joint US/Canadian spaceborne science mission for global measurements of atmospheric cloud structures. Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) has already captured many stunning profiles of cloud/precipitation structures, some have not been seen before. Observation of storms' cloud formation, in conjunction with data from other remote sensors, will hopefully improve quality of natural hazards' forecasts.
CloudSat↗
Novel Parameterization of Ice Cloud Effective Diameter from Collocated CALIOP-IIR and CloudSat Retrievals
Satellite-based measurements of global ice cloud microphysical properties are sampled to develop a novel set of physical parameterizations, relating to cloud layer temperature and effective diameter D(e), that can be implemented for two separate applications: in numerical weather prediction models and lidar-based cloud radiative forcing studies. Ice cloud optical properties (i.e., spectral scattering and absorption) are estimated based on the effective size and habit mixture of the cloud particles. Historically, the ice cloud D(e) has been parameterized from aircraft in situ measurements. However, aircraft-based parameterizations are opportunistic in that they only represent specific types of clouds (e.g., convective anvil, tropopause-topped cirrus) in the regions in which they were sampled and, in some cases, are limited in fully resolving the entire vertical cloud layer. Breaking away from the aircraft-based parameterization paradigm, this study is the first of its kind to attempt a parameterization of D(e) as a function of temperature, ice water content (IWC), and lidar-derived extinction from satellite-based global oceanic measurements of ice clouds. Data from both active and passive remote sensing sensors from two of NASA’s A-Train satellites, CloudSat and CALIPSO, are collected to guide development of globally robust parameterizations of all ice cloud types and one exclusively for cirrus clouds.
Ice Cloud↗
Cloud Macrophysical Changes Observed by MODIS, CALIPSO, and CloudSat for the 11-year Period
Using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Cloud–Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO), and CloudSatsatellitemeasurements, cloud macrophysicalchanges are examined from 2007 to 2017(Ham et al., 2021). Particularly, we compare cloud changes derived from MODIS passive sensor and CALIPSO-CloudSat (CALCS) combined active sensor measurements. Both MODIS and CALCS well capture general features of the cloud changes related to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. However, because of better detections of thin cirrus clouds, CALCS cloud volume anomalies are better correlated with relative humidity anomalies, compared to MODIS. In addition, MODIS observations show a stronger anticorrelation between low and mid/high cloud volume anomalies, compared to CALCS, mainly due to limitations in detecting overlapping clouds by MODIS passive sensor.In addition, the geometrical thickness of MODIS mid/high clouds is thinner than that from CALCS, less affecting cloud amounts at 0-3 km altitude.
Cloud↗
Advancing the quantification of aerosol-cloud interactions with the CALIPSO-CloudSat-Aqua/MODIS record
Aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions are assessed over the non-polar ocean using more than 11 years of combined Aqua-MODIS, CALIPSO-CALIOP, and CloudSat products. The analysis first shows the benefit of incorporating vertically resolved aerosol extinction coefficient (σext) in aerosol-cloud interactions (ACI) assessments, demonstrating that: σext vertically collocated with the cloud layer () correlates best with cloud droplet number concentration (Nd), column-integrated aerosol optical depth (AOD) cannot explain the Nd variability in the extratropics, and the S-shape of the AOD-Nd relationship reported in previous studies is not replicated when using instead of AOD, with a Nd- linearity more consistent with in-situ studies over the ocean. ACI metric, estimated as the log-scale regression between CALIOP and MODIS Nd reveals that the eastern Pacific is the region with the strongest ACI, followed by the Southern Ocean. The susceptibility of clouds to changes in their liquid water path (LWP) and frequency of precipitation followed a 2-step calculation by combining the Nd- regression (ACI) with the regression between these macrophysical variables and Nd. LWP susceptibility is negative (LWP decreases with aerosol loading) and statistically significant over the eastern Pacific, eastern Atlantic, and extratropics. In contrast, vast areas of the tropical and subtropical ocean feature negligible changes in LWP with aerosol. Precipitation frequency susceptibility is negative, but the values are only significant over the coastal eastern Pacific and Atlantic. The findings suggest that previous modeling assessments relying on AOD may need to be revisited by taking advantage of the synergy between passive and active sensors.
Li, Zhujun↗
The CloudSat Mission
CloudSat is an international mission, made possible by partnerships and contributions from the Canadian Space Agency, the U.S. Air Force, the Communications Research Laboratory of Japan, the U.S. Department of Energy, and research institutions in the USA, Japan, Canada and Europe.
weather prediction models cloud and radiation stud↗
A systematic risk management approach employed on the CloudSat project
The CloudSat Project has developed a simplified approach for fault tree analysis and probabilistic risk assessment. A system-level fault tree has been constructed to identify credible fault scenarios and failure modes leading up to a potential failure to meet the nominal mission success criteria.
risk management fault tree analysis probabilistic ↗
Characterizing the Radiation Fields in the Atmosphere Using a Cloud-Aerosol-Radiation Product from Integrated CERES, MODIS, CALIPSO and CloudSat Data
CloudSat and CALIPSO cloud and aerosol information is convolved with CERES and MODIS cloud and radiation data to produce a merged 3-dimensional cloud and radiation dataset.
Minnis, Patrick↗
CloudSat: the Cloud Profiling Radar Mission
The Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR), the primary science instrument of the CloudSat Mission, is a 94-GHz nadir-looking radar that measures the power backscattered by clouds as a function of distance from the radar. This instrument will acquire a global time series of vertical cloud structure at 500-m vertical resolution and 1.4-km horizontal resolution. CPR will operate in a short-pulse mode and will yield measurements at a minimum detectable sensitivity of -28 dBZ.
percipitation↗
Relation of Cloud Occurrence Frequency, Overlap, and Effective Thickness Derived from CALIPSO and CloudSat Merged Cloud Vertical Profiles
A cloud frequency of occurrence matrix is generated using merged cloud vertical profile derived from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) and Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR). The matrix contains vertical profiles of cloud occurrence frequency as a function of the uppermost cloud top. It is shown that the cloud fraction and uppermost cloud top vertical pro les can be related by a set of equations when the correlation distance of cloud occurrence, which is interpreted as an effective cloud thickness, is introduced. The underlying assumption in establishing the above relation is that cloud overlap approaches the random overlap with increasing distance separating cloud layers and that the probability of deviating from the random overlap decreases exponentially with distance. One month of CALIPSO and CloudSat data support these assumptions. However, the correlation distance sometimes becomes large, which might be an indication of precipitation. The cloud correlation distance is equivalent to the de-correlation distance introduced by Hogan and Illingworth [2000] when cloud fractions of both layers in a two-cloud layer system are the same.
Kato, Seiji↗