ADMFirst Wind Lidar in Space on Atmospheric Dynamics Mission ADM-Aeolus
Measurements of winds throughout the atmosphere are crucial for both numerical weather prediction (NWP) and climate studies. Profiling measurements of the global wind field are prioritised by WMO (World Meteorological Organization) Expert Teams and considered important for global NWP. In 1999 the European Space Agency ESA selected the Atmospheric Dynamics Mission ADM-Aeolus to overcome the lack in global wind observations. The instrument ALADIN (Atmospheric LAser Doppler INstrument) on ADM-Aeolus provides profiles of one component of the horizontal wind vector every 200 km from ground up to the stratosphere with 0.5-2 km vertical resolution and an accuracy of 1-3 m/s with a horizontal averaging length of 50 km. Launch is planned for end 2009. DLR contributed to the selection of ADM-Aeolus through the development of an instrument performance simulator, supporting technology trade-offs, through impact studies in cooperation with the German Weather Service DWD, and through the development of the airborne precursor Doppler Lidar WIND (Wind INfrared Doppler lidar).
Airborne instrument demonstrator developed for ADM-Aeolus
Since 2001 DLR supports ADM-Aeolus by a project to validate the instrument concept. The development of the ALADIN airborne demonstrator A2D in cooperation with space industry EADS-Astrium was successfully finalised in April 2007 with flights on the DLR Falcon research aircraft. The A2D is the first airborne direct-detection Doppler wind lidar for wind profile measurements worldwide. In October 2006 and July 2007 the instrument performance was validated during ground campaigns at the Meteorological Observatory of DWD in Lindenberg. For the first time two different wind lidars – a coherent 2-µm lidar and the direct-detection lidar A2D – were operated aboard an aircraft in November 2007. Within further ESA funded activities prototype and operational processors for the ADM-Aeolus ground segment are developed in cooperation with the DLR Institute of Remote Sensing.