Scientific aspects of the Earth clouds, Aerosols, and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) mission

Abstract

In recent years remote sensing of cloud, aerosol, precipitation, and radiation has benefited greatly from simultaneous application of multiple sensors. For example, combinations of passive radiometers with active sensors such as lidar or radar have proved to be invaluable for their ability to retrieve profiles of cloud macrophysical and microphysical properties. This is amply illustrated by results from both surface sites, such as the US-DoE's ARM installations, and sensors aboard A-train satellites; namely CloudSat, CALIPSO, and Terra. The Earth Clouds, Aerosols, and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) mission, a combined ESA/JAXA endeavor set for launch in 2015, has been designed to host active and passive sensors on a single low-Earth orbit satellite and thus retrieve, through synergistic use of data, the most comprehensive global survey of the vertical structure cloud, aerosol precipitation, and radiation. The mission consists of a cloud-profiling radar, a high-spectral resolution cloud/aerosol lidar, a passive imager, and a threeview broadband radiometer (BBR) covering both longwave and shortwave bands. The mission will deliver cloud, aerosol and radiation products focusing on horizontal scales ranging from 1 km to 10 km at a vertical grid-spacing of 0.1 km. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.