The CloudSat Data Distribution System is a web-based application that allows users to "order" data via a standard "shopping cart" interface (fig. 4). The user selects the product they are interested in, individual data fields from that product, and the date and time range. In addition, they can specify whether they want data for an entire orbit, or – as is most often the case – for a specific location or within a radial distance from that location. Users can store their requests for recall at a later time, and can also set up a schedule to pull their specific data "sector" from every future orbit that passes within the boundaries that they have set. Data will be placed into an FTP directory that is specific to each user and they will be given a specific amount of time to retrieve it before it is removed from the system.
Another key feature of the system allows the user to create a custom product that contain fields that have been extracted from multiple standard data products.