Aeolus - the first wind lidar in space: Challenges and first results

Abstract

Soon after its successful launch in August 2018, the spaceborne wind lidar ALADIN (Atmospheric LAser Doppler INstrument) on-board ESA's Earth Explorer satellite Aeolus has demonstrated to provide atmospheric wind profiles on a global scale. Being the first ever Doppler wind lidar instrument in space, ALADIN contributes to the improvement in numerical weather prediction by measuring one component of the wind vector along the instrument's line-of-sight from ground throughout the troposphere up to the lower stratosphere. The measurements are performed with the single payload ALADIN, which is a direct-detection Doppler wind lidar operating at an ultraviolet wavelength of 354.8 nm. ALADIN uses a frequency-tripled Nd:YAG laser, a large 1.5 m Cassegrain telescope, and 2 interferometers for detection of the Doppler frequency shift from molecules and particles. Challenges during the development of the ALADIN instrument are highlighted and first results are discussed including validation with an airborne instrument demonstrator.