Airborne wind lidar observations in the North Atlantic for preparation of the ADM-Aeolus validation.

Kurzfassung

The first space-borne wind lidar mission ADM-Aeolus from ESA is currently scheduled for launch by mid-2017. Aeolus carries the direct-detection Doppler lidar ALADIN that operates at an ultraviolet wavelength of 355 nm and makes use of two types of spectrometers to measure frequency shifts from molecular and aerosol backscatter. For the preparation of the Aeolus validation, an airborne field experiment was performed during 3 weeks in May 2015 with the DLR Falcon and the NASA DC-8 aircraft. For the first time 4 wind lidars were deployed during an airborne campaign including two coherent and two direct-detection wind lidars at a wavelength of 2022 nm and 355 nm. A total of 7 coordinated flights of the Falcon and DC-8 yielded an extensive dataset of wind lidar observations in the North Atlantic region around Iceland and Greenland.