Pre-Launch Validation of the Wind Lidar on ADM-Aeolus

Abstract

The Atmospheric Dynamics Mission ADM-Aeolus of ESA will be the first lidar mission to sense the global wind field from space. It is based on a direct-detection Doppler lidar operating at 355 nm with two interferometers for aerosol/cloud and molecular backscatter. In order to assess the radiometric and wind measurement performance of the Doppler lidar ALADIN on ADM-Aeolus, an airborne version – the ALADIN Airborne Demonstrator A2D – was developed. The A2D is the first airborne directdetection Doppler lidar worldwide. The A2D receiver and laser transmitter performance characterization will be presented. Findings from two ground campaigns at the Observatory Lindenberg of German Weather Service in 2006 and 2007 using a wide variety of collocated observations will be discussed. The first results of an airborne campaign with the A2D and a coherent 2-μm wind lidar aboard the same aircraft will be shown.