First Results from the HARP CubeSat polarimeter

The Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP) Cubesat started data collection in April 2020 from the ISS orbit and is the first Hyper-Angular imaging polarimeter in space. The HARP payload produces pushbroom images at four wavelengths (440, 550, 670 and 870nm) with up to 60 viewing angles at 670 nm and up to 20 along track angles for the other three wavelengths. HARP swath consists of 94 degs in the cross track direction, allowing for a very wide coverage around the globe, and +/-57 degs in the along track direction, providing wide scattering angle sampling for aerosol and cloud particle retrieval. The HARP satellite is still active on orbit and so far have produce a large collection of scenes providing an unprecedented demonstration of the hyperangular retrieval of cloud and aerosol properties from space. This presentation will discuss the performance of the HARP sensor in space, as well as its first results for aerosol and cloud measurements. HARP is preceded by its airborne version, the AirHARP instrument, which has flown in two NASA aircrafts to demonstrate the capabilities of the HARP payload. The HARP payload is also a precursor to the HARP-2 polarimeter that will fly on the NASA PACE mission to collect global data on aerosol and cloud particles.