Grupo de Óptica Atmósferica de Camagüey

Patrick Hamill¹ and Jens Redemann²

¹Physics Department, San Jose State University, San Jose, California, USA
²Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, Sonoma, California, USA

Two satellite borne lidar systems to measure atmospheric parameters have been deployed and one is scheduled for launch this year. The first system was LITE a “proof of concept” lidar on Space Shuttle mission STS-64 in September 1994. The second is the GLAS system on ICESat, whose purpose is primarily to measure changes in elevation of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, but it also gives determinations of cloud heights and the vertical structure of clouds and aerosols. The CALIPSO satellite, which will be a part of the A-train constellation of satellites, has three instrument on board. One of these is CALIOP, a lidar system dedicated to studies of aerosols and clouds. We describe these three systems and validations of their science products.