Nasa has concluded a mission carried out by the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) lidar instrument on the orbiting International Space Station (ISS).

During the 33-month mission, CATS measured clouds and tiny atmospheric particles that play major roles in Earth’s climate and weather.

Capable of firing more laser pulses than its predecessors, the instrument provided measurements of the vertical structure of clouds and aerosols such as volcanic eruptions, man-made pollution in China and India, smoke from wildfires in North America, and dust storms in the Middle East.

“CATS was an amazing combination of enterprising science pathfinder, technology demonstration and programmatic forcing function.”

Data provided by CATS allowed more accurate aerosol modelling and forecasting, as well as improved tracking and forecasting of volcanic plumes and associated aviation hazards.

The mission has also enhanced the knowledge of aerosol proximity to clouds, which is crucial in predicting the effects of cloud-aerosol interaction on Earth’s climate system.

Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center CATS principal investigator Matt McGill said: “The CATS project was a spectacular opportunity to provide first-of-its-kind science from the space station. CATS was an amazing combination of enterprising science pathfinder, technology demonstration and programmatic forcing function.

“The CATS payload operated for more than 200 billion laser pulses, an unprecedented achievement for a spaceborne lidar.”

Nasa’s ISS Programme has funded the CATS mission, which was launched in January 2015 to operate for at least six months but lasted five times its life expectancy.

However, in October, the instrument’s onboard power and data system stopped functioning and could not be resuscitated.

The mission demonstrated a new way for future low-cost missions to the ISS and advanced laser technology to measure clouds and aerosols.