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Polder
Developed by CNES in collaboration with the LOA atmospheric optics laboratory in Lille, the POLDER instrument was designed to study clouds and aerosols, which are known to play a key role in the climate system. POLDER analyses the intensity and direction of light reflected by the Earth and its atmosphere, as well as its polarization, a physical characteristic describing how waves propagate. Such measurements reveal the properties of clouds and aerosols, thereby telling us more about how they affect climate.
There have been three successive generations of instruments: POLDER 1, 2 and 3. POLDER 1 and POLDER 2 were launched on the Japanese ADEOS and ADEOS 2 satellites on 17 August 1996 and 14 December 2002. Unfortunately, both satellites encountered serious technical hitches that brought their mission to a premature end. With POLDER 3 on the other hand, which departed Earth on 18 December 2004 on the French Parasol microsatellite, CNES teams were able to exploit the instrument’s full potential. The Parasol mission continued to operate up to the end of 2013, exceeding its planned design life by more than 5 years.
Mission's news feed
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Polder science data processing closes at CNES
Between them, the Polder 1 and Polder 2 instruments dedicated to studying the Earth-atmosphere system operated for 15 months, accumulating a wealth of data products for the...
February 15, 2006
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Release Press: Polder 2 acquires first images and argos-next instrument begins operationg
February 20, 2003: NASDA successfully placed into orbit its ADEOS-II satellite (Advanced Earth Observing Satellite II) on 14 December 2002 atop a Japanese H-IIA launcher. The...
February 20, 2003