EarthCARE data overlaid with aircraft tracks

Launched just six months ago and still in its commissioning phase, ESA’s EarthCARE satellite is already producing remarkable data from its four instruments, offering groundbreaking insights into clouds, aerosols, and Earth’s energy balance. Highlighting the importance to Earth system science and climate research, teams worldwide are out in force taking measurements to verify and enhance the accuracy of EarthCARE’s data.

The image shows an example of data from EarthCARE’s cloud profiling radar and from its atmospheric lidar overlaid with aircraft tracks from the MAESTRO and PERCUSION campaigns that were flown at the same time as EarthCARE passed overhead.

Notably, two aircraft flying in a stack were captured simultaneously in the very narrow beam of EarthCARE’s cloud profiling radar (CPR) data. These signals can be seen in the image and demonstrate the skill of the flight planners and pilots on both aircraft in achieving such a precise collocation. The image also shows the synergy between the EarthCARE’s atmospheric lidar (ATLID) and CPR, where ATLID characterises the top of the two cloud systems and CPR shows their inner structure. Also, clearly visible is the marine aerosol layer sampled by ATLID, and from the shape of the flight tracks it is evident that this layer was sampled by the equivalent instruments on both aircraft. In addition, the MAESTRO aircraft also sampled the aerosol particles when flying through the layer, during its corkscrew flight patterns.

Read full story: Taking to the skies for EarthCARE