CALIPSO Lidar Level 2 Vertical Feature Mask (VFM), V4-51

CAL_LID_L2_VFM-Standard-V4-21 is the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) Lidar Level 2 Vertical Feature Mask (VFM), Version 4-51 data product. Data for this product was collected using the CALIPSO Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument. The CALIPSO satellite comprises three instruments: CALIOP, Imaging Infrared Radiometer (IIR), and Wide Field Camera (WFC). CALIPSO is a joint satellite mission between NASA and the French Agency CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales). CALIPSO was launched on April 28, 2006, to study the impact of clouds and aerosols on the Earth's radiation budget and climate. From June 13, 2006, to September 13, 2018, CALIPSO was part of the A-Train constellation for coincident Earth Observations. After September 13, 2018, the satellite was lowered from 705 to 688 km to resume flying in formation with CloudSat, heretofore called the C-Train.