A Workshop on Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere in Anticipation of the EarthCARE Satellite Mission

The German Earth Cloud, Aerosol, and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) community and the French Expecting EarthCARE Learning from the A-Train (EECLAT) community, both dedicated to the use of Earth observing satellites for research on clouds, aerosols, precipitation, and radiation, came together for a joint workshop1 in January 2018. Its purpose was to provide a venue to share expertise and to encourage future collaboration between the two communities. The workshop focused on the use of remote sensing instrumentation for atmospheric observations, with special attention paid to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) A-Train constellation of Earth observing satellites and the upcoming joint EarthCARE satellite mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Sixty-eight participants from French and German universities and research institutes attended. The majority of the workshop was dedicated to the presentation of recent research, and a final group discussion was held to identify the topic(s) that could serve as the basis for framing future science initiatives based on the anticipated outputs and strengths of EarthCARE.