The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) satellite mission was launched in April 2006 and is providing near-global data on cirrus clouds and polar data on polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs). These data are exceedingly important for both climate and ozone chemistry applications, with PSCs important as sites for heterogeneous chemistry and polar ozone loss, and cirrus important because of their radiative effects. Few instruments can detect cirrus clouds on a global scale, especially those of low optical thickness. Likewise, there are few remote sensors capable of retrieving the vertical and spatial distribution and characterization of PSCs over the local polar winter and early spring periods. This paper will describe these observations using the first two years of CALIPSO data. Frequency of occurrence of cirrus clouds, their base- and top-height statistics, and the classification of PSCs by composition using various statistical methods applied to backscatter and depolarization ratio data will be presented and discussed. The differences between the daytime and nighttime cirrus cloud data will also be explored. Previous studies have reported large latitudinal movements in cloud cover with the changing seasons. The seasonal variations of the latitude – longitude distributions of the cirrus cloud occurrence frequency will be discussed.