How Calipso works
Main lidar instrument
The Calipso satellite is built around a Proteus bus. Its payload comprises:
- a 3-channel lidar as the main instrument, equipped with a 1-m telescope, to measure backscattering profiles of infrared radiation, from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 40 km, day and night;
- a Wide-Field Camera (WFC) operating in the visible spectrum, developed in the United States;
- a 3-channel imaging infrared radiometer (IIR) operating in the thermal infrared spectrum, developed in France.
Calipso on the Proteus bus. Crédits : Alcatel
A French-U.S. ground segment
The Calipso ground segment uses facilities at CNES and NASA. Its chief components are:
- the Mission Operations Ground System (MOGS), in the United States, comprising the mission control centre, payload management centre and data distribution system;
- the Satellite Operations Ground System (SOGS), in France, comprising a receiving station, satellite control centre and communications network;
- the Data Control Network (DCN), which links up the other ground segment components;
- the Atmospheric Sciences Data Center (ASDC), in the United States, which processes and distributes mission science products.
