When NASA launched its CALIPSO spacecraft, the space agency did not intend to estimate phytoplankton populations.
NASA launched its Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) mission in 2006 to study the impact of clouds in the atmosphere. The climate satellite uses lidar, which shoots laser light pulses at Earth’s surface and measures how they bounce back to measure the distance to objects below. The space agency’s goal is to combine that information with data from other satellites to show vertical structures, water content in clouds, and other climate indicators.
