---
aliases:
  - context: missionID
    lexicon: ceos
    term: 347
    url: http://database.eohandbook.com/database/missionsummary.aspx?missionID=347
  - context: Mission
    lexicon: ceos
    term: CloudSat
    url: http://database.eohandbook.com/database/missionindex.aspx#C
  - context: resource
    lexicon: dbpedia
    term: CloudSat
    url: http://wikipedia.org/wiki/CloudSat
cited_by: []
contributors:
  - display_name: 'Contributor : Canadian Space Agency '
    href: http://52.38.26.42:8080/contributor/3728.yaml
    id: 3728
    organization:
      country_code: CA
      display_name: Canadian Space Agency
      identifier: canadian-space-agency
      name: Canadian Space Agency
      organization_type_identifier: national
      type: organization
      url: http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca
    organization_uri: /organization/canadian-space-agency
    person: {}
    person_id: ~
    person_uri: ~
    role_type_identifier: contributor
    uri: /contributor/3728
  - display_name: 'Contributor : National Aeronautics and Space Administration '
    href: http://52.38.26.42:8080/contributor/3713.yaml
    id: 3713
    organization:
      country_code: US
      display_name: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
      identifier: national-aeronautics-space-administration
      name: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
      organization_type_identifier: federal
      type: organization
      url: http://www.nasa.gov
    organization_uri: /organization/national-aeronautics-space-administration
    person: {}
    person_id: ~
    person_uri: ~
    role_type_identifier: contributor
    uri: /contributor/3713
  - display_name: 'Contributor : U.S. Department of Defense '
    href: http://52.38.26.42:8080/contributor/3813.yaml
    id: 3813
    organization:
      country_code: US
      display_name: U.S. Department of Defense
      identifier: us-department-defense
      name: U.S. Department of Defense
      organization_type_identifier: federal
      type: organization
      url: http://www.defense.gov
    organization_uri: /organization/us-department-defense
    person: {}
    person_id: ~
    person_uri: ~
    role_type_identifier: contributor
    uri: /contributor/3813
description: "A NASA/CSA (USA/Canada) cooperative research mission in the ESSP (Earth System Science Pathfinder) program to study the effects of clouds on climate and weather. CloudSat's primary goal is to furnish data needed to evaluate and improve the way clouds are represented in global models, thereby contributing to better predictions of clouds and thus to their poorly understood role in climate change and the cloud-climate feedback [focused on understanding the role of optically thick clouds on the Earth's radiation budget (a balance of solar energy reaching the Earth and lost to space that ultimately controls the temperature of the Earth)]."
description_attribution: https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/c-missions/cloudsat
display_name: cloudsat
end_date: 2015-10-01T00:00:00
files:
  - display_name: CloudSat_Auto9.jpg
    file: ef/f0/305a4d7e5987d4bdb480421ef9f1/CloudSat_Auto9.jpg
    href: http://data.globalchange.gov/assets/ef/f0/305a4d7e5987d4bdb480421ef9f1/CloudSat_Auto9.jpg
    identifier: 495b416b-fd4a-4ebb-ab88-567dbfb16b5f
    landing_page: https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/c-missions/cloudsat
    location: ~
    mime_type: image/jpeg
    sha1: c9abbef2c21e74e20067e7524cef5654a279ff80
    size: 53599
    thumbnail: ef/f0/305a4d7e5987d4bdb480421ef9f1/.thumb-495b416b-fd4a-4ebb-ab88-567dbfb16b5f.png
    thumbnail_href: http://data.globalchange.gov/assets/ef/f0/305a4d7e5987d4bdb480421ef9f1/.thumb-495b416b-fd4a-4ebb-ab88-567dbfb16b5f.png
    type: file
    uri: /file/495b416b-fd4a-4ebb-ab88-567dbfb16b5f
    url: http://data.globalchange.gov/assets/ef/f0/305a4d7e5987d4bdb480421ef9f1/CloudSat_Auto9.jpg
href: http://52.38.26.42:8080/platform/cloudsat.yaml
identifier: cloudsat
instruments:
  - description: Cloud and precipitation radar
    description_attribution: Cloud and precipitation radar
    identifier: cloud-profiling-radar
    name: Cloud Profiling Radar
    uri: /instrument/cloud-profiling-radar
name: CloudSat
parents: []
platform_type_identifier: spacecraft
references: []
start_date: 2006-04-28T00:00:00
type: platform
uri: /platform/cloudsat
url: http://cloudsat.atmos.colostate.edu/