PRE-LAUNCH VALIDATION ACTIVITIES WITH THE AIRBORNE DEMONSTRATOR FOR THE ESA ADM – AEOLUS WIND-LIDAR MISSION

摘要

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 and makes use of two types of spectrometers to measure frequency shifts from molecular and aerosol backscatter. In order to assess the performance of the Doppler lidar ALADIN and to optimize the retrieval algorithms with atmospheric signals, an airborne prototype – the ALADIN Airborne Demonstrator A2D – was developed. Four airborne campaigns with a coherent-detection wind lidar and the direct-detection wind lidar A2D were performed for pre-launch validation of Aeolus including a coordinated campaign with the NASA DC-8 aircraft in 2015.