A-train (satellite constellation)

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For the subway, see A (New York City Subway service); for other uses, see A Train.
Launch of Calipso and Cloudsat, April 28, 2006
Launch of Calipso and Cloudsat, April 28, 2006

The "A-train" is a constellation of six Franco-American Earth observation satellites in sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 690 kilometers above the Earth.[1] They are spaced a few minutes apart from each other so their collective observations may be used to build high-definition three-dimensional images of the Earth's atmosphere and surface.

The train consists of the satellites:

  • Aqua, launched on May 4, 2002;
  • Aura, launched on July 15, 2004;
  • PARASOL[2], launched on December 18, 2004;
  • CALIPSO, launched on April 28, 2006;
  • CloudSat, launched with CALIPSO on April 28, 2006;
  • OCO, due for launch around December 2008.[3]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ «A-train Symposium October 2007: Constellation keeps its promises», CNESMAG, January 2008.
  2. ^ Polarization and Anisotropy of Reflectances for Atmospheric Sciences coupled with Observations from a Lidar
  3. ^ OCO

[edit] External links

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