Context
CALIPSO satellite which monitors climate, weather and air quality using LIDAR has ended its science mission after 17 years.
About CALIPSO
- CALIPSO – Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) Misison
- Launched by – NASA and France’s CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales).
- Orbit – Sun Synchronous Orbit
- Objective – It is a cloud and aerosol observation satellite.
- Mission Type – Earth Observation
- Findings –
- It recorded more than 10 billion LIDAR measurements and helped create thousands of scientific reports over its 17 years of operation.
- It provided new insight regarding role of clouds and atmospheric aerosols in regulating Earth’s weather, climate, and air quality.
- Future prospects – Over the next 2 years, the project will continue to refine and document its extensive findings.
About Aerosols
- Aerosols are small particles suspended in the atmosphere.
- Sources – Desert dust, sea salt, volcanic eruptions, smoke from forest fires, burning of coal, oil, and other fossil fuels; manufacturing chemicals; and driving cars and trucks.
- Impacts –
- They can pose serious health risks, especially to individuals with asthma and other respiratory problems.
- Airborne aerosols can also transport fungal and viral microbial pathogens.
- Aerosols can affect weather and climate.
- Depending upon their shapes, sizes and composition they can reflect sunlight back to space and cool the atmosphere, they can also absorb sunlight and warm the atmosphere.
- Aerosols can even change the lifetimes of clouds, how much rainfall can occur, and how they reflect sunlight.
- They further can enable chemical reactions to occur on their surfaces and influence the composition of the atmosphere.
Source: Indian Express
Previous Year Question
Which of the following pair(s) is/are correctly matched?
Spacecraft: Purpose
1. Cassini-Huygens: Orbiting the Venus and transmitting data to the Earth
2. Messenger: Mapping and investigating the Mercury
3. Voyager 1 & 2: Exploring the outer solar system
Select the correct answer using the codes given below.
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2014 Prelims]
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (b)
Explanation:
Cassini-Huygens was the fourth space probe to visit Saturn. Hence, pair 1 is not correctly matched.
