ADM-Aeolus scheduled launch - end of 2013

One of the main deficiencies in the current meteorological global observing netwok is the lack of wind observations. The only potential instrument to provide a three-dimensional coverage of wind observations is a Doppler wind lidar mounted on a polar orbiting satellite platform. The European Space Agency (ESA) is preparing a mission to demonstrate the possibility of measuring wind profiles from space.

The Atmospheric Dynamics Mission (ADM-Aeolus) was selected in 1999 as an ESA Earth Explorer core mission. ADM-Aeolus will provide for the first time in history a three-dimensional global coverage of wind observations. The launch of the satellite is scheduled end of 2011.

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