EarthCARE's first year: Surprising climate clues unveiled from space

The EarthCARE satellite is helping scientists unlock the mysteries of clouds and aerosols that have long puzzled our understanding of Earth’s energy balance.

EarthCARE (Earth Cloud, Aerosol, and Radiation Explorer) is a joint project by the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Nicknamed Hakuryu, meaning “White Dragon,” this satellite was over two decades in the making.

The May 29th launch was nerve-wracking, but when EarthCARE soared into orbit, it marked a new chapter for one of ESA’s most sophisticated Earth Explorer satellites.

Four instruments, one mission

Launching four instruments on one satellite is no small feat. First up was the Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR), developed by JAXA, which allows scientists to see inside clouds and understand their internal dynamics for the first time from space.

The Broadband Radiometer (BBR), designed to provide insights into Earth’s energy budget, soon followed. Then came the Multispectral Imager (MSI), offering cloud context, and the Atmospheric Lidar (ATLID), which traces particles from sea spray to cloud tops.

Within a few months, all of the instruments were working in harmony. Together, they measure how clouds and aerosols heat or cool the atmosphere – vital information for refining weather forecasts and climate models.

International collaboration for success

The satellite’s success depended not just on technology but on international collaboration. ESA and JAXA partnered with 16 organizations across nine countries.

The EarthCARE Data, Innovation, and Science Cluster (DISC) processes data to create useful products for scientists and forecasters.

Hundreds of researchers also participated in the calibration and validation efforts, traveling from the Arctic to Cabo Verde and even sailing the Atlantic to ensure data accuracy.

At the second In-Orbit ESA-JAXA Calibration and Validation Workshop in March 2025, researchers shared promising early results, confirming the hard work had paid off.

EarthCARE’s first year in space

EarthCARE orbits at around 400 km above Earth. That low altitude comes at a cost – the satellite will slowly spiral down due to space weather, atmospheric drag, and gravity.

Although the initial mission was planned for three years, there’s hope that it could last longer depending on solar activity and approval.

Even within the first year, EarthCARE made a real impact. In January 2025, Level 1 data became public. By spring, Level 2 data were released, making 26 out of 33 products available to scientists within 10 months.

Data transforms weather forecasting

Forecasters quickly began incorporating EarthCARE data into weather models. The goal: reduce biases and improve forecasts. According to DISC partner ECMWF, early results are encouraging.

EarthCARE has improved predictions of cloud positions, mid-level convection, cloud amounts, and occluded front locations across several case studies.

Scientists also found that EarthCARE data enhanced wildfire smoke tracking and offered the most precise air quality forecasts yet. ECMWF aims to integrate EarthCARE data into operational forecasts, following the success of the Aeolus satellite, which carried a similar lidar instrument.

Meanwhile, researchers around the world are gaining new insights into atmospheric processes, using EarthCARE’s unique measurements.

EarthCARE captures polar clouds

As soon as EarthCARE’s Level 1 data became available, scientists were drawn to its stunning observations of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs).

These high-altitude clouds are rare and beautiful, displaying iridescent colors in polar skies. EarthCARE captured a rare band of “type II” PSCs stretching about 3,000 kilometers from Latvia to Greenland, floating between 20 and 30 km high.

While such clouds are more common over Antarctica, this event allowed researchers to compare cloud behaviors between the poles.

Excitement grew at the second Calibration and Validation Workshop as EarthCARE also captured sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere after a volcanic eruption. These observations are key to better understanding how such particles impact climate.

Shining a light on Earth’s energy

Earth’s energy imbalance is now growing twice as fast as predicted, according to a recent AGU Advances article. Satellites like EarthCARE are crucial for monitoring this alarming trend.

The Broadband Radiometer (BBR) plays a vital role. It measures reflected sunlight and emitted heat with exceptional precision, using three angles – forward, backward, and downward. This setup provides accurate estimates of how much energy Earth reflects and emits.

BBR’s measurements help evaluate radiative transfer models – tools that track how electromagnetic energy moves through the atmosphere. So far, BBR’s thermal radiation readings agree within 10 W/m² of model predictions, an impressive level of accuracy.

One striking example came after a month of heavy rain on the Iberian Peninsula. On March 11, 2025, EarthCARE’s DISC team used BBR and MSI data to capture a major thunderstorm system.

These detailed observations help scientists connect radiation data to the underlying cloud and aerosol structures, providing a clearer picture of how they influence Earth’s energy balance.

EarthCARE detects insects from space

EarthCARE was designed to study clouds and aerosols, but it turns out it can do much more. In March 2025, the satellite detected a 500-km-long swarm of insects over northern India.

Initially classified as drizzle by the CPR, further analysis with ATLID and MSI confirmed otherwise – there were no clouds present.

CPR’s radar is sensitive to objects about the size of raindrops, but scientists discovered that it can also detect large swarms of insects lofted high into the atmosphere. Unlike cloud droplets, these insects don’t reflect ATLID’s lidar signals, providing a way to distinguish them.

Phytoplankton seen from orbit

Ground-based radars have seen insects and birds before, but EarthCARE is among the first space-based missions to detect insect swarms regularly. Experts are eager to learn more about what species are being observed and how their patterns change with the seasons.

EarthCARE’s lidar is also showing promise in studying ocean phytoplankton. Its Rayleigh channel detects backscattered light below the ocean surface.

Chlorophyll-a, a pigment in phytoplankton, absorbs ultraviolet light at the same wavelength EarthCARE uses, reducing the Rayleigh signal. Regions rich in phytoplankton show lower signals, offering a potential new way to monitor marine ecosystems from space.

EarthCARE’s first year shows how much can be achieved in a short time. With its eyes on the clouds and beyond, the mission is just getting started.

Image Credit: ESA

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