EarthCARE’s Calibration/Validation
EarthCARE’s commissioning phase:
June – November 2024
Across the globe:
13 airborne/shipborne campaigns during commissioning phase + more during mission lifetime.
Canada (ECCC, NRC, & Academia):
- Ongoing Ottawa-based aircraft/surface calibration/validation campaign: ECALOT ( Sep.-Nov. 2024 );
- Similar payloads to EarthCARE’s (radar, lidar);
- In-situ probes sampling clouds & aerosols;
- Mid-latitude continental fall conditions.
- Beyond commissioning phase → Arctic Polar Night Experiment (PONEX) campaign ( Jan. – Feb. 2026 );
- In addition to ECALOT: HAWC instruments to observe far-infrared radiation (FIRR) & aerosols (ALI);
- Unprecedented Arctic polar night conditions!
| Type of observation |
EarthCARE |
PONEX (Bold: HAWC instruments) |
| Clouds (ice/liquid) |
radar, lidar, imager |
radar, lidar, in-situ probes, FIRR |
| Precipitation |
radar |
radar, in-situ probes |
| Thin ice clouds |
lidar, imager |
lidar, in-situ probes, FIRR |
| Aerosols |
lidar, imager |
lidar, in-situ probes, ALI |
| Radiation |
Radiometer, imager |
surface radiometers, FIRR |
| Atmosphere state (T, humidity...) |
NWP model |
Aircraft state probes, airborne & surface remote sensing instruments, FIRR |
Benefits for model improvement at ECCC
EarthCARE Mission:
- Unique atmospheric conditions (Polar night):
- Widespread OTIC
- Unique radiative signature
- Cloud-aerosol-radiation interaction
- Chemical transport during Polar night
- High impact weather (Arctic outbreaks, etc)
- Radiative budget and climate impact, etc
