Cloud Statistics from Calipso Lidar Data for the Performance Assessment of a Methane Space Lidar
In this thesis a performance assessment for the future German-French climate monitoring initiative, Methane Remote Sensing Lidar Mission (MERLIN), proposed by DLR and CNES in 2010 was undertaken. A general space lidar performance issue is the obstruction by optically dense clouds. For this purpose cloud free statistics, the global cloud top flatness and global cloud top distributions were derived from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) level 2, 333 m and 5 km lidar cloud-layer products between 01 January 2007 and 01 January 2008.
Read More