EarthCARE development phase has now reached its final stage. With a launch now anticipated in May 2024, the four payloads will enter commissioning within the next months. Amongst them, the High Spectral Resolution LIDAR (HSRL) ATLID is expected to deliver state of the art spaceborne LIDAR measurements for the characterization of aerosol and clouds. To ensure the stability of operations and the quality of the delivered products, stringent performance requirements need to be met. This paper presents the characterization of the instrumental properties of ATLID inferred from on-ground testing and the Level 1 processing of the in-orbit data that will ensure the performance of the mission. Finally, an overview of the activities to be conducted during the commissioning phase will be presented.
Marnas et al. (Thu,) studied this question.