The Cloud remote sensing and thermodynamic parameters laboratory of the CNR-IMAA  is equipped with various types of state-of-the-art instruments for the atmospheric profiling of clouds, precipitation and thermodynamic parameters, such as temperature, humidity and wind. The above instrumentation uses both radar, lidar and microwave radiometry remote sensing technology and in situ measurements from radiosoundings.

The methodology and operative procedures adopted, both for measurements and for data analysis and quality check, allow to provide the national and international scientific community with high quality and long-term products suitable for improving current knowledge on clouds and their interactions with other atmospheric constituents and processes, as well as with climate change. These products are also necessary to validate and improve the parameterizations of clouds and  interactions mentioned above in numerical forecasting models. Moreover, the measurements and products provided represent a reference for the validation and calibration of measurements from other sensors, such as those on satellite platforms.

This laboratory is part of the pan-European research infrastructure ACTRIS (Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure, https://www.actris.eu/) for cloud remote sensing, both as a fixed station and as a mobile platform for measurement campaigns in other sites, both equipped with similar remote sensing instruments.

Finally, the laboratory contributes to the global network GRUAN (GCOS Reference Upper-Air Network, https://www.gruan.org/), providing temperature, humidity and wind profiles through the troposphere and stratosphere measured by its radiosounding systems