CALIOP

NASA uses space laser to study polar ocean plants

by 

Roberto Baldwin

12.25.2016

Usually when you think NASA you conjure up images of Mars and space stations. But the agency also conducts important climate research. One of those projects is the Cloud-Aerosol LIdar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) aboard the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellite that measures plankton levels through clouds.