The Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) mission, jointly developed between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), aims at reducing uncertainties in climate projections by improving our understanding of cloud–aerosol–radiation interactions and the Earth’s radiative budget. Since its launch in May 2024, the EarthCARE satellite has provided synergistic observations of clouds, aerosols, and radiation with a collocated package of instruments: the Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR), the ATmospheric LIDar (ATLID), the Multi Spectral Imager (MSI) and the Broad-Band Radiometer (BBR). The EarthCARE Science and Validation Workshop 2025 was held at the University of Tokyo, Japan, in the week of 1-5 December 2025. The opening day of the workshop coincided with a major project milestone: the release of the complete suite of EarthCARE data products, including three-sensor and four-sensor synergy products. Over 320 participants attended the workshop, which featured approximately 200 presentations on science and validation findings. Highlights of early achievements included radiative closure studies using both ESA and JAXA four-sensor synergy products. Novel studies focusing on cloud dynamics using Doppler velocity measurements from the CPR demonstrated cutting-edge cloud and precipitation analysis techniques that were not possible with the previous CloudSat mission. Presentations based on ATLID prominently featured case studies of long-range smoke transport from the Canadian wildfires that occurred and spread widely across the Northern Hemisphere in 2025. Past and future validation activities including airborne and ground-based instruments were actively discussed. EarthCARE’s unique capabilities address persistent uncertainties in cloud feedback and aerosol forcing, supporting improved predictive skill in climate models.
Kubota et al. (Sun,) studied this question.