Aeolus Wind Satellite : European Space Agency’s
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Aeolus wind satellite, after exceeding its planned life in orbit, is making its way back to Earth.
- Aeolus Wind Satellite is a satellite mission launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) to study Earth’s winds and their influence on the planet’s climate and weather patterns.
- The mission is named after Aeolus, the ruler of the winds in Greek mythology.
- Aeolus was launched on August 22, 2018, from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana.
- It is a 1,360-kilogram satellite.
- The primary goal of the Aeolus mission is to measure global wind profiles from space.
- It aims to provide accurate and comprehensive data on wind patterns in the Earth’s atmosphere to improve weather forecasting, understand climate dynamics, and enhance our knowledge of the Earth’s atmospheric circulation.
- It is the first satellite mission to acquire profiles of Earth’s wind on a global scale.
- Aeolus is equipped with a single instrument called the Atmospheric Laser Doppler Instrument (ALADIN).
- ALADIN is a Doppler wind lidar, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, that will measure the winds sweeping around the planet.
