CALIPSO Lidar Level 2 5 km Aerosol Layer Data, V4-20

CAL_LID_L2_05kmALay-Standard-V4-20 is the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) Lidar Level 2 5 km Aerosol Layer Data, Version 4-20 data product. This data product was collected using the Cloud-Aerosol LIdar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument. Data collection for this product is ongoing.
Within the Lidar Aerosol Layer Product there are two general classes of data:- Column Properties (including position data and viewing geometry), and Layer Properties, the lidar layer products consist of a sequence of column descriptors, each one of which is associated with a variable number of layer descriptors. The column descriptors specify the temporal and geophysical location of the column of the atmosphere through which a given lidar pulse travels. Also included in the column descriptors are indicators of surface lighting conditions, information about the surface type, and the number of features (e.g., aerosol layers) identified within the column.
CALIPSO was launched on April 28, 2006 and continues to collect data necessary to study the impact of clouds and aerosols on the Earth's radiation budget and climate . It flies in the international A-Train constellation for coincident Earth observations. The CALIPSO satellite comprises three instruments, CALIOP, Imaging Infrared Radiometer (IIR), and Wide Field Camera (WFC). CALIPSO is a joint satellite mission between NASA and the French Agency, CNES.

CAL_LID_L2_05kmALay-Standard-V4-20乃云气层激光雷达与红外路径卫星观测系统（CALIPSO）激光雷达第二级5公里气溶胶层数据，版本4-20的数据产品。该数据产品由采用正交极化云气层激光雷达（CALIOP）装置所收集。该产品的数据收集工作持续进行中。

在激光雷达气溶胶层产品中，数据分为两大类：柱状属性（包括位置数据和观测几何）以及层属性。激光雷达层产品由一系列柱状描述符组成，每个描述符都与一定数量的层描述符相关联。柱状描述符确定了特定激光脉冲穿越的气柱的时空和地球物理位置。柱状描述符还包括地表照明条件指标、地表类型信息以及柱内识别的特征数量（例如，气溶胶层）。

CALIPSO于2006年4月28日发射，并持续收集研究云和气溶胶对地球辐射收支和气候变化影响的必要数据。它在国际A-Train星座中进行同步地球观测。CALIPSO卫星由三个仪器组成：CALIOP、成像红外辐射计（IIR）和广角相机（WFC）。CALIPSO是NASA与法国国家空间研究中心（CNES）联合的卫星任务。