ATLID validation - Using ground-based lidar measurements in northern Sweden to validate EarthCARE-ATLID

The EarthCARE satellite is an ESA mission to be launched in 2023. It will carry four instruments, one of them a lidar, ATLID.

The goal of the mission is to increase our knowledge of atmospheric properties which influence the radiation budget of the Earth.In order to optimize the quality of data collected with EarthCARE, validation against other instruments, e.g. ground-based ones, is necessary.

In this project we will perform measurements of cirrus clouds and polar stratospheric clouds with a ground-based lidar, located at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) in Kiruna, northern Sweden. Retrieved cloud parameters will be compared with data from ATLID when collocation conditions are fulfilled.

A prerequisite for interpretation of our lidar measurements is the utilization of cirrus data from the related project ´In-situ Cirrus´ which will carry out balloon-borne in-situ measurements of microphysical parameters of ice particles during some of the ground-based lidar observations.The validation will result in estimates of the quality of data products from ATLID, both for the whole dataset and when focusing on certain atmospheric conditions.