Welcome to the CloudSat Data Processing Center

CloudSat is a satellite mission designed to measure the vertical structure of clouds from space. The radar data produces detailed images of cloud structures which will contribute to a better understanding of clouds and climate. Please peruse this website to find out more about the CloudSat mission and the Data Processing Center.

Visit the main CloudSat project website at Colorado State University.

CloudSat exits the A-Train

February 22, 2018
After almost 12 years of flying in formation with its A-Train partners, CloudSat safely exited the constellation on February 22nd, 2018 to begin a solo career. The current status of the reaction wheels is being analyzed by JPL and Ball Aerospace and a plan to return to Daylight-Only Operations (DO-Op) is being formulated.
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CloudSat momentum wheel anomaly and status

January 24, 2018
CloudSat is currently in standby mode due to a spacecraft momentum wheel anomaly. Due to safety concerns, the CloudSat spacecraft will be executing a maneuver to lower it’s orbit and leave the A-Train. If that maneuver is successful, CloudSat should return to daytime-only operation sometime in the mid-February timeframe. Co-located CloudSat and CALIPSO data products will only be available after the orbit change, and co-located MODIS-AUX products will only be available during the period where CloudSat flies under the MODIS data swath. ECMWF-AUX products will continue to be produced along with radar-only standard CloudSat products.
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CloudSat Reaction Wheel Anomaly

July 10, 2017
The CloudSat spacecraft entered standby mode on June 4th, 2017 after experiencing a problem with one of its four reaction wheels. Tests are underway to determine how to solve the problem and resume operations.
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R05 Product Release

April 13, 2017

CloudSat is announcing the release of the first batch of R05 data products to the General Science Community.  Products included in this release are:  

  • 1B-CPR:  L1B Received echo power
  • MODIS-AUX:  MODIS radiances and cloud mask matched to the CPR footprint
  • ECMWF-AUX:  ECMWF state variables
  • 2B-GEOPROF:  L2B radar reflectivity and cloud mask
  • 2B-GEOPROF-LIDAR:  L2B CPR + CALIOP cloud mask (including post-battery anomaly orbits)
  • 2B-TB94:  L2B 94 GHz Brightness Temperature (new for R05)
  • 2C-PRECIP-COLUMN:  L2C precipitation incidence flag

Note that in addition to product-specific improvements that will be detailed in forthcoming documentation there are two changes users need to be aware of. Profiles that were previously not included in R04 data files because of spacecraft/instrument issues are included in R05. If the Data_quality field is not zero for a profile users will either want to skip the profile or examine the other data status flags to determine if it should be used. Also, R05 filenames now include “_F00” for possible fixes within a released product version.

Data files are available via FTP from ftp://ftp.cloudsat.cira.colostate.edu under <product>.<version> directories (e.g., 2B-GEOPROF.P_R05) and <year>/<day of year> subdirectories.  Users are asked to set up an account if they don’t have one already on the DPC website at http://www.cloudsat.cira.colostate.edu.  DPC website credentials are used to log into the FTP server.

These products are in the process of being added to the DPC web ordering page and product documents are being updated.  Look for status updates in the coming days on the DPC home page.   Please report any issues or questions to the DPC at cloudsat@colostate.edu.


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CloudSat releases algorithm uncertainty study

September 1, 2016
The CloudSat algorithm development leads have completed a synthesis of algorithm uncertainties. The synopsis describes the known uncertainties in the Cloudsat algorithms and provides the relevant technical and peer reviewed references for data end-users. The algorithm development team plans to update the document periodically as new data releases become available.
Related Products: 2B-CLDCLASS, 2B-CLDCLASS-LIDAR, 2B-CWC-RO, 2B-CWC-RVOD, 2B-FLXHR, 2B-FLXHR-LIDAR, 2B-GEOPROF, 2C-PRECIP-COLUMN, 2C-RAIN-PROFILE, 2C-SNOW-PROFILE