ESA’s EarthCARE (Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer) mission will be launched in 2024, it is the largest and most complex Earth Explorer to date, and will advance our understanding of the role that clouds and aerosols play in reflecting incident solar radiation back into space and trapping infrared radiation emitted from Earth’s surface. EarthCARE is a joint venture between ESA and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). That ESA-JAXA Joint mission was selected as the 6th Earth Explorer Mission and 3rd ESA Earth Observation Core Mission during the Granada ESA meeting in October 2004.
| Instruments | Description |
| ATLID | The Atmospheric Lidar will provide vertical profiles of aerosols and thin clouds. It will operate at a wavelength of 355 nm and will have a high-spectral resolution receiver and depolarisation channel. |
| CPR | The Cloud Profiling Radar will provide vertical profiles measurements of clouds and will observe vertical velocities of cloud particles through Doppler measurements. It will operate at 94GHz. |
| MSI | The Multi-Spectral Imager hosted by EarthCARE will provide across-track information on clouds and aerosols with channels in the visible, near infrared, shortwave and thermal infrared. |
| BBR | The Broad-Band Radiometer will provide measurements of top-of-the-atmosphere radiances and fluxes. It will have one short-wave and one long-wave channel with three fixed viewing directions pointing in nadir and aft-directions. |
MAESTRO project has a strong connection with the EarthCare ESA/JAXA satellite mission for two reasons:
- MAESTRO will use the satellite’s measurements for addressing the key questions of the project. The satellite will extend the airborne measurements (in space and time)
- MAESTRO will contribute to the Cal-Val exercise by providing co-located measurements with the satellite during the field campaign
Our strategy for EarthCare Cal-Val during MAESTRO (soon)