Aeolus

ESA’s Aeolus Earth Explorer demonstrated global wind-profile measurements using the Aladin Doppler wind lidar. Ultraviolet laser pulses scattered from air molecules and atmospheric particles; shifts in the returning light yielded wind measurements along a single line of sight, rather than a complete three-dimensional wind vector at every location. Launched on August 22, 2018, the mission supplied observations for atmospheric research and operational weather forecasting, including over regions poorly sampled by conventional observing networks. Aeolus reentered on July 28, 2023, after a sequence of manoeuvres lowered its orbit for an assisted reentry.