News

On October 30, 2017 the CATS payload appears to have suffered an unrecoverable fault in its onboard power/data system. Attempts to regain communication with the payload have been unsuccessful. The ISS and JAXA teams are working with us to assess the situation. Although there remains a small chance that communications can eventually be restored, at this time we have no reason to believe the payload will reactivate.

Although CATS has ceased science operations, it has been nothing but a complete success. The minimum success requirement levied on CATS was to operate 6 months on-orbit, and longer if possible. As of October 2017 the CATS payload had operated for more than 200 billion laser pulses - an absolutely unprecedented achievement for a spaceborne lidar - and collected science data for over 33 months. CATS has demonstrated on-orbit measurements of cloud and aerosol properties in near-real time (i.e., within 3-6 hours of data acquisition), enabling assimilation into models and monitoring of hazard events (dust storms, fires, volcanic eruptions).

Over the next few months we will continue to refine algorithms, do any reprocessing of CATS data, and then final archiving of the data products. We will post the CATS Image of the Week through end of December 2017, as we have a backlog of results to share. Please check back for a status update on the final data products and thank you for your continued interest in CATS data!

CATS was inhibited Saturday October 14th and Sunday October 15th for the Progress 68P launch and docking after the aborted launch on Thursday.

CATS will be inhibited the morning of Thursday October 12th, GMT 285, for the Progress 68P launch and docking.

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in Mode 7.2.

The CATS Version 2-01 L2O data products for Mode 7.2 will be released in the coming days. The data can be downloaded here at the CATS website and at the ASDC website, and browse images will be available here at the CATS website shortly. There may be a delay in the release of the quality controlled September 2017 data due to smoke layers lofted into the CATS calibration region (above 22 km). Dozens of granules require additional calibration efforts.

CATS will be inhibited tomorrow, GMT 255, at 17:00 until the morning of GMT 256 for the 52S launch and docking.

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in Mode 7.2. CATS will be turned off on September 2nd until the next morning the 50S undock and landing.

The CATS Version 2-08 L1B and Version 2-00 L2O data products for Mode 7.2 has been released. The data can be downloaded here at the CATS website and at the ASDC website, and browse images are available here at the CATS website. There are 3 known issues that have been identified in the Version 2-00 L2O data products for Mode 7.2:

1) The new variable “Percent Opacity” was not populated with values. 2) Aerosol layers in direct contact with water clouds were flagged as opaque and the AOD was reported as -1. This was due to an error in the CEAL (Cloud Embedded in Aerosol Layer) routine and is ONLY the case for aerosol layers in direct contact with water clouds. 3) No optical properties are reported for aerosol layers directly above water clouds because the CEAL routine did not properly sequence the layers by altitude when separating them. This is ONLY an issue for above cloud aerosol layers in direct contact with water clouds and does not impact the vertical feature mask.

To fix these errors, we will be releasing new Version 2-01 L2O data products for Mode 7.2 data processed before Sept. 1 2017. The anticipated full release of these V2-01 data products is Sept. 30 2017. All L2O products created after Sept. 1 will be V2-01, and all Mode 7.1 L2O products will be V2-01. Please note that if you are using the L2O V2-00 data for applications other than aerosol near clouds and atmospheric opacity, then you will not see any difference between V2-00 and V2-01.

CATS will be inhibited on GMT 245(September 2nd) until the morning of GMT 246 for the 50S undock and landing.

CATS will be inhibited on the morning of GMT 228(August 16th) for SpX-12 docking.

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in Mode 7.2.

The CATS Version 2-08 L1B and Version 2-00 L2O data products will be released on Tuesday July 11, 2017. The new L1B data release includes an improvement to the CATS backscatter calibration and a new backscatter uncertainty variable, a depolarization quality flag, a higher resolution DEM, and better geolocation. The V2-00 L2O data products now include 60 km layer detection, uncertainty parameters, improved cloud/aerosol discrimination and aerosol typing, as well as more accurate retrievals of optical properties. CATS L2 Heritage products will also be released shortly.

CATS will be inhibited on the morning of GMT 183(July 2nd) for SpX-11 unberthing and departure.

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in Mode 7.2.

New versions of the CATS data products will be released in early July. The CATS Version 2-08 L1B data release includes an improvement to the CATS backscatter calibration and a new backscatter uncertainty variable, a depolarization quality flag, a higher resolution DEM, and better geolocation. The Version 2-00 L2O data release includes 60 km layer detection, uncertainty parameters, improved cloud/aerosol discrimination and aerosol typing, as well as more accurate retrievals of optical properties. CATS L2 Heritage products will also be released shortly.

CATS will be inhibited from GMT 165(June 14th) to the morning of GMT 167 for Progress 67P launch and docking.

CATS will be inhibited on the morning of both GMT 153(Friday) and GMT 155(Sunday) for the 49S undock and SpX-11 respectively.

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in Mode 7.2.

New versions of the CATS data products will be released in the coming weeks. The CATS Version 2-08 L1B data release includes an improvement to the CATS backscatter calibration and a new backscatter uncertainty variable, a higher resolution DEM, and better geolocation. The Version 2-00 L2O data release includes 60 km layer detection, uncertainty parameters, improved cloud/aerosol discrimination and aerosol typing, as well as more accurate retrievals of optical properties. CATS L2 Heritage products will also be released shortly.

CATS will stop data collection on May 3rd(GMT 123) and resume operations on May 4th(GMT 124) due to impacts from ISS operations.

CATS is operating near-continuously in mode 7.2.

CATS was inhibited today for the Soyuz launch and berth but is now back collecting data! CATS will be inhibited again on Saturday GMT 112 for the approach and docking of OA-7.

CATS will be inhibited the majority of the day GMT 83 (March 24th) for the approach of the Cygnus OA-7 spacecraft. CATS will then likely be inhibited again GMT 89 (March 30th) for spacewalk activities between approximately 12:00 and 22:00 UTC.

CATS will be inhibited until the morning of GMT 55 (February 24th) for the approach of both Space-X 10 and Progress 66P.

CATS is operating near-continuously in mode 7.2.

CATS will be inhibited for the morning of GMT 31(January 31st) for the undock and departure of 64P (Progress).

CATS will be inhibited for the morning of GMT 27(January 27th) for the undock and departure of HTV 6.

CATS will be inhibited on GMT 13 for ISS operations.

The CATS is operating near-continuously in mode 7.2. CATS will be inhibited on GMT 16 from 07:00 to 11:00.

The CATS is continuing operations in mode 7.2.

The CATS will continue operations in mode 7.2 until HTV approach to ISS on the morning of December 13th (GMT day 348).

The CATS has continued operations in mode 7.2.

The CATS will continue to operate in mode 7.2 until the Progress 65P launch which is currently scheduled for December 1st.

The CATS will operate near-continuously in mode 7.2 until the Soyuz launch scheduled for November 17th.

CATS continues operations in mode 7.2. CATS will be disabled Sunday October 30th (GMT 304) from 00:00 to 04:00 GMT for the undock and landing of the Soyuz 47S.

CATS will be disabled Sunday October 23rd (GMT 297) from 0600 to 1600 GMT for the docking of OA-5.

CATS will be disabled Wednesday October 18th GMT 293/0100 until Friday GMT 295/1030 for the 48S Launch and Rendezvous.

CATS will proceed operating near-continuously in mode 7.2. On Friday October 14th GMT 288/0200 to GMT 288/1530 CATS will be disabled for the 63P undock.

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in Mode 7.2. Check out the “Image of the Week”, which highlights the utility of CATS and the ISS for studying unique cloud and aerosol features!

CATS Version 2-07 Level 1B and Version 1-05 Level 2 Operational data products were recently released and are now available. These new products have a more accurate calibration, layer detection, and cirrus extinction retrievals. We encourage all CATS data users to download and analyze these new data products.

Also, for a description of the CATS instrument and project, we suggest you read McGill et al. 2015 (http://spie.org/Publications/Proceedings/Paper/10.1117/12.2190841). For data products and initial performance, you can read our recently published paper Yorks et al. 2016 at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2016GL068006/full.

CATS will proceed operating near-continuously in mode 7.2.

On Tuesday September 6th GMT 250/2000 to GMT 251/0145 CATS will be disabled for the 46S undock.

CATS will proceed operating near-continuously in mode 7.2.

On Thursday August 25th GMT 238/1900 to GMT 239/1200 CATS will be disabled for the Space-X undock.

CATS will proceed operating near-continuously in mode 7.2.

On Wednesday August 17th GMT 230/1900 to GMT 231/0300 CATS will be disabled for IDA Extraction and on GMT 232/0400 to GMT 232/1900 CATS will be disabled for an EVA on the International Space Station.

CATS is continuing operations in mode 7.2 with no vehicular activity until the 22nd.

The next version of mode 7.1 L1B data has been released.

CATS is continuing operations in mode 7.2.

CATS is continuing operations in mode 7.2.

CATS will be off Wednesday Morning, GMT 202, from 7:00 to 15:00 for the berthing of Space-X 9 to the International Space Station.

CATS is continuing operations in mode 7.2.

CATS will be off Saturday night (7/16) through Monday night due to the Progress 64P launch to the ISS.

CATS is continuing operations in mode 7.2.

CATS will be off later tonight (7/6) through Friday night due to a Soyuz MS-01 docking for Expedition 48 which will transport 3 astronauts to the International Space Station.

CATS is continuing operations in mode 7.2.

CATS L1B V2-07 and L2O V1-04 data products are now available both here at the CATS website and also at the ASDC site. The CATS Version 2-06 L1B data release included an error in the algorithm that remaps the raw CATS data to the final CATS data frame (-2.0 to 30.0 km at 60 m vertical resolution). The error caused certain bins to contain the same value of backscatter as the bin above. As a result, layer top and base heights are never detected at these bins in the V1-03 of the L2O data products. This error has been corrected in the new data products. Users that are analyzing cloud and aerosol top/based height distributions are advised to use the L1B V2-07 and L2O V1-04 data for their analysis.

CATS continues operating in mode 7.2, but will turn off briefly for Soyuz Undock and Reentry, currently scheduled for June 18th.

CATS continues operating in mode 7.2, but will turn off briefly for OA-6 Undock, currently scheduled for June 14th.

New versions of the CATS data products will be released in the coming weeks. The CATS Version 2-06 L1B data release included an error in the algorithm that remaps the raw CATS data to the final CATS data frame (-2.0 to 30.0 km at 60 m vertical resolution). The error caused certain bins to contain the same value of backscatter as the bin above. As a result, layer top and base heights are never detected at these bins in the V1-03 of the L2O data products. For CATS L1B V2-07 and L2O V1-04, this error has been corrected. Users that are analyzing cloud and aerosol top/based height distributions are advised to use the L1B V2-07 and L2O V1-04 data for their analysis.

CATS is continuing operations in mode 7.2. CATS will turn off briefly for OA-6 Undock, currently scheduled for June 2nd.

CATS continues operations in mode 7.2. CATS will be forced to be off briefly for the SpaceX-8 unberth from the ISS on Wednesday, May 11th between 12:30 and 15:00 UTC.

CATS is operating near-continuously in mode 7.2.

CATS is continuing near-continuous operations in mode 7.2. CATS will be off briefly on the 10th during Space-X 8 Dragon capture.

CATS continues operations in mode 7.2. CATS is off shortly for the undock and departure of Progress today and will be off for duration of the next Progress launch and dock from the morning of the 31st through the morning of the 2nd.

CATS continues operations in mode 7.2. CATS was off for the Soyuz docking on the 18th into the 19th and on the 26th will be deactivated for the Cygnus docking.

CATS is running near-continuously in mode 7.2. CATS will be turned off for the multiple scheduled arriving vehicles in late March. Expect the release of Level 2 data products as early as the end of next week.

CATS is back running near-continuously in mode 7.2 and will be off shortly tonight for the return of the Soyuz.

Due to issues at the POIC with CATS telemetry, CATS data collection was stopped over the weekend and has been infrequent while the issue is resolved. CATS health is still nominal.

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in mode 7.2. CATS will be turned off for the departure of the Cygnus cargo ship on the 19th.

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in mode 7.2. CATS will be turned off for the departure of the Cygnus cargo ship on the 19th.

CATS continues to operate near-continuously. Our latest version of the Level 1B products are processed and should be available soon. Level 2 products should be online before March 1st.

We are currently processing our latest version of the Level 1B data products (V2.06) that will be released in the coming weeks. This will include the data up to the current week!

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in mode 2 (7.2) with laser 2. CATS has been on orbit and attached to the JEM-EF for a full year!

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in mode 2 (7.2) with laser 2. Version 2.6 of the Level 1 data products will be released before the end of January.

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in mode 2 (7.2) with laser 2. The website will be updated shortly to include an “Image of the Week” component and version 2.6 of the Level 1 data products will be released before the end of January.

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in mode 2 (7.2) with laser 2 and on 04 Dec. detected the volcanic plume from the Mt. Etna eruption.

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in mode 2 (7.2) with laser 2.

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in mode 2 (7.2) with laser 2.

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in mode 2 (7.2) with laser 2.

New data have been released! CATS L1b files and browse images for data up to September 1, 2015 are now available!

CATS L1b version 2.05 data will be released soon for Mode 7.2. This includes L1b files and browse images for data up to September 1, 2015. Check back for updates.

CATS L1b version 2.05 data will be released soon for Mode 7.2. This includes L1b files and browse images for data up to September 1, 2015. Check back for updates.

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in mode 2 (7.2) with laser 2.

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in mode 2 (7.2) with laser 2. CATS will not operate from Aug 27, 22:25 - Aug 28, 15:00 UTC due to spacecraft maneuvers.

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in mode 2 (7.2) with laser 2. CATS will not operate from Aug 23, 22:00 - Aug 24, 14:50 UTC due to HTV5 spacecraft docking to the ISS.

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in mode 2 (7.2) with laser 2.

CATS continues to operate near-continuously in mode 2 (7.2) with laser 2.

The Soyuz launch and docking was successful and CATS is back up and operating.

CATS will not operate between 07/22/2015, 20:00 UTC and 07/23/2015, 14:00 UTC due to a scheduled launch of a Soyuz spacecraft. CATS operations will resume tomorrow, 07/23/2015, at approximately 14:00 UTC assuming the launch of the Soyuz happens as scheduled.

CATS continues near-continuous operation in Mode 2 (7.2) using laser 2. Soyuz activities will force a pause in CATS operation between 07/22/2015, 20:00 UTC and 07/23/2015, 14:00 UTC. Assuming these activities do not slip, the CATS laser will then be turned back on by July 22.

CATS continues near-continuous operation in Mode 2 (7.2) using laser 2. SpaceX CRS-7 activities will force a pause in CATS operation for a period of about 1 day. Currently, the SpaceX CRS-7 activities are scheduled for June 30, 2015. Assuming these activities do not slip, the CATS laser will then be turned back on by July 1.

The browse images for the Mode 1 Level 1B data from Feb. 10 through March 02 are now available on the website (click Science, then Data). Browse images for later dates will be added in the coming days. Also, data files can be accessed by clicking the “HDF5” button next to the browse image thumbnail starting this week.

CATS continues to operate in Mode 2 (532 & 1064 nm backscatter), with near continuous operation since March 25. Several recent events have been captured in the CATS data, including ice clouds from Hurricane Blanca on June 4. Initial data release of the Mode 1 Level 1B data from Feb. 10 through March 21 will occur Friday June 12, with browse images available here at the CATS website, as well as links to the data files.

CATS has been operating primarily in Mode 2 (532 & 1064 nm backscatter) since March 25, and will continue to operate in this mode. Several recent events have been captured in the CATS data, including the plumes due to the eruption of the Calbuco volcano in Chile. The team will continue to refine the calibration for all the data since operation began in February. Initial data release of the Mode 1 data from Feb. 10 through March 10 will likely occur in the coming months.

The CATS laser was turned off on Tuesday 3/10 in preparation for Soyuz spacecraft activities. On Thursday 3/12, the CATS team successfully turned on the second laser to test operation at all three wavelengths (355, 532, 1064 nm). The team will continue to monitor the operation of the second laser and perform instrument check-outs.

CATS has been running continuously since 22 February as we collect days worth of global lidar data. The CATS team has now turned their attention to optimizing the calibration. Uncalibrated data is being processed, as shown below from 00:59 to 01:19 UTC on 11 Feb. 2015 as the ISS passed over Africa. This CATS normalized relative backscatter image shows Saharan Dust, cirrus clouds near the equator, and smoke from biomass burning in Southern Africa.

The CATS laser was turned off on Friday 2/13 in preparation for the ATV undocking. The CATS laser was turned back on Sunday 2/15 and operated for over 24 continuous hours through Monday 2/16. Currently, the CATS laser is off in preparation for the Progress docking on Tuesday 2/17, but will be turned back on around 18:00 UTC on 2/17.

The CATS laser was fired successfully for the first time on Thursday 05 February around 3 PM EST and the laser is operating nominally. Data has been collected in segments as the CATS team continues initial instrument checkout procedures such as aligning the telescope.

CATS was successfully installed onto the JEM-EF aboard the ISS on 22 Jan. 2015 at 9 AM EST. CATS was powered on and is currently sending health and status data to GSFC as the CATS team follows instrument checkout procedures.

The SpaceX Dragon successfully docked to the ISS on 12 Jan. 2014. CATS will be installed to the JEM-EF on Friday 16 January. Once installed, the instrument will be powered on to achieve thermal stability. The first laser light will be sometime in late January.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 launch scheduled for Tuesday, which includes CATS, was aborted due to an issue with a thrust vector control actuator. SpaceX is evaluating the issue and the next opportunity to launch is Saturday, January 10 at 4:47 AM EST.

CATS is now scheduled to launch to the ISS on 06 January, 2015 at 6:18 AM EST and will arrive at the ISS on Jan. 08.

CATS is now scheduled to launch to the ISS on 19 December, 2014 at 1:20 PM EST and will arrive at the ISS on Dec. 21.

On 30 Sept. CATS left NASA GSFC for SpaceX facilities at Cape Canaveral, where it arrived a day later. CATS installation on the SpaceX dragon capsule was completed on 08 Oct., and CATS is scheduled to launch to the ISS on 16 December, 2014.