Abstract: Satellite Cloud-Aerosol Lidar (CALIOP) practices a routine vertically sliced scanning through the earth's atmosphere, forming a 3-D monitoring network with high resolution on cloud and aerosol. CALIOP was introduced systematically in terms of capability, characteristics, data structure, retrieval process, products and the uncertainty. The applications of CALIOP data to trace dust transportation, validate modeled cloud and aerosol distribution, explore aerosol-cloud interaction, exhibit long-term status of cloud and aerosol distribution, update the understanding of the aerosol and cloud properties, as well as application prospects in the study of regional air quality in China were presented.