A series of studies using lidar observations from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument aboard the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) satellite were conducted to evaluate the performance and utility of several CALIPSO data products. Using Level 2 data from CALIPSO, an initial 15-day comparison revealed an 83 % agreement in cloud and aerosol feature detected between the nominal and expedited products. Also developed was a computational comparison between upper stratospheric temperature data sets used in CALIPSO Versions 1.10 and 2.01 data releases, which revealed largest disagreements near the poles during the winter. Finally, it was demonstrated that aerosol layers detected from an expedited CALIPSO data product can be useful for identifying the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) over the Atlantic Ocean. Results from the first two projects will help characterize any biases in CALIPSO products for future product development, whereas results from the third project could help forecast and understand the formation and dissipation of tropical cyclones.