Retrieval of atmospheric backscatter and extinction profiles with the aladin airborne demonstrator (A2D)

The launch of the Aeolus mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) is planned for end of 2017. The satellite will carry the first wind lidar in space, ALADIN (Atmospheric Laser Doppler INstrument). Its prototype instrument, the ALADIN Airborne Demonstrator (A2D), was deployed during several airborne campaigns aiming at the validation of the measurement principle and optimization of algorithms. In 2015, flights of two aircraft from DLR & NASA provided the chance to compare parallel wind measurements from four airborne wind lidars for the first time.