EarthCARE and its payload

EarthCARE is ESA's Clouds Aerosols and Radiation Explorer. It is a joint mission in collaboration with JAXA. The satellite will carry a payload of four instruments: an atmospheric lidar (ATLID), a cloud profiling radar (CPR) provided by JAXA, a multi spectral imager (MSI) and a broad-band radiometer (BBR). The four instruments will operate synergistically with the aim of providing a better understanding of clouds and aerosols and their impact on Earth's climatology. An important feature of the mission is that its instruments will make, for the first time, near simultaneous measurements of the same cloud/aerosol scene, The presentation will describe the satellite, its mission and in particular, the design and specifications of the payload.