NASA, HU Launch Calipso Satellite

Hampton, VA - NASA launched the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) on April 28 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The satellite, developed through a joint partnership between the U.S. and France that includes Hampton University, will eventually help improve scientists' understanding of the global climate, hurricanes and temperature changes.

Dr. M. Patrick McCormick, co-director of HU's Center for Atmospheric Sciences, is the co-principal investigator for the CALIPSO project, and has spent almost a decade preparing for the mission.

"It's a mission that will ultimately increase our knowledge of the earth's climate," he said. "The data from CALIPSO will provide the science community with key parts to the puzzle on how our global climate changes."

"CALIPSO will emit laser light pulses into the atmosphere below the satellite as it orbits Earth and 'paint' a world-wide picture of the vertical extent of clouds and tiny particles, called aerosols, McCormick explained. "This information is needed to accurately predict future climate."

Once operational, CALIPSO will work in conjunction with CloudSat, another satellite mission being launched at the same time. CloudSat and CALIPSO will be separated in orbit by only 15 seconds. CloudSat's data will complement that of CALIPSO by providing the vertical profile of thick clouds using radar pulses instead of laser pulses.

The CALIPSO data will be sent from NASA Langley Research Center to HU, where HU's faculty and students will perform validation and scientific studies. HU has organized a world-wide effort to ensure the validation and breadth of the usefulness of the CALIPSO data.

In addition to the data analysis and validation efforts, HU is in charge of the CALIPSO Outreach Program, aimed at educating school-age children, their teachers, and the public on the purpose and usefulness of CALIPSO and other NASA programs.