CALIPSO IIR Lidar Level 3 Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Cloud, Standard V1-00

CAL_IIR_L3_GEWEX_Cloud-Standard-V1-00 is the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) IIR Level 3 Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Cloud, Standard Version 1-00 data product. Data for this product was collected using the CALIPSO Imaging Infrared Radiometer (IIR) instrument. This product reports global distributions of IIR cloud effective radius, water path averages, and histograms on a uniform 2-dimensional (2D) spatial grid. This product is designed to follow the general guidance of the GEWEX Cloud Assessment. Cloud amount, radiative temperature, effective emissivity, and optical depth characterize the cloud samples for which IIR microphysical retrievals are reported. Cloud properties are reported for ice clouds, liquid water clouds, and high ice clouds of layer pressure lower than 440 hPa. All level 3 parameters are derived from the IIR version 4 level 2 track products, with the temporal extent averaging one month. CALIPSO was launched on April 28, 2006, 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: The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP), Imaging Infrared Radiometer (IIR), and Wide Field Camera (WFC). CALIPSO is a joint satellite mission between NASA and the French Agency, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES).