Clearer outlook

A UK-designed remote-sensing satellite instrument could play a key role in a space mission that will compare cloud distribution with information about solar radiation. The information will give a more detailed picture of how the altitude and density of clouds affects climate change.

The device, developed by Cardiff firm

, will form an integral part of a highly-specialised cloud profiling radar (CPR) used in a joint

/

(JAXA) project called EarthCARE (Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer).

The mission will create an Earth-orbiting radar system that will emit a pulsed signal to bounce off clouds and back into the instrument. The returning signal will provide information about the distribution of material such as ice in the clouds at the top levels of the atmosphere, as well as their height and density.

The project is based on the knowledge that clouds and other particles in the atmosphere can affect climate. For example, low clouds cool the climate by reflecting short wave solar radiation back into space, whereas high clouds warm the climate because they trap infrared radiation while allowing the sunn's energy to pass through them.