Calipso Climatology Satellite On Its Way To California Launch Site

EARTH OBSERVATION

Calipso (illustrated in orbit) will help scientists understand the Earth's climatic system and predict global changes, an ability limited until now by uncertainty about the radiation impact of clouds and aerosols.

Paris (SPX) May 20, 2005
The climatology satellite Calipso (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations) left Alcatel Space, a subsidiary of Alcatel, plant in Cannes (southern France) during the night of May 18 for transport to the Vandenberg Air Force Base and spaceport in California.

Launch is scheduled for this summer on a Delta 2 launcher, along with the Cloudsat satellite.

Calipso will help scientists understand the Earth's climatic system and predict global changes, an ability limited until now by uncertainty about the radiation impact of clouds and aerosols.

It will supply a unique set of data on vertical atmosphere profiles, using the first satellite-mounted backscatter lidar (LIght Detection And Ranging).

This climatology mission, designed to support the sustainable development of our planet, is a joint program of NASA and French space agency CNES, with Alcatel Space and Ball Aerospace as the main industry partners.

Calipso is part of a global climate study program and will be flying in formation with two American missions, Aqua and Cloudsat, along with the French microsatellite, Parasol.

This will form an exceptional space observatory, the "A-train", combining all active and passive measurement techniques and positioned in sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 705 kilometers.

Aqua was launched in April 2002 and has a design life of five years. Parasol was launched on December 18, 2004.

Calipso is the second application for the Proteus platform developed by Alcatel in conjunction with CNES.

Following the Jason-1 oceanographic altimetry satellite, which celebrated the third anniversary of a very successful mission last December.

The Poseidon altimeter on the Jason-1 satellite delivers a constant stream of essential oceanography data.

EARTH OBSERVATION

Vietnam's Mekong Delta From Space During A Rare Cloudless Day

Paris (ESA) May 18, 2005
Arising in the Himalayas, the Mekong River flows through the territory of six nations on its 4000-kilometre journey to the South China Sea: China, Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.