Satellites

Aeolus and Aeolus-2

The knowledge of wind speed is crucial for weather forecasting and the understanding of atmospheric dynamics. Between 2018 and 2023, the European Space Agency (ESA) operated the Earth Explorer satellite Aeolus. It carried the revolutionary instrument ALADIN - the first European lidar and the world's first Doppler wind lidar in space. The operational follow-on mission Aeolus-2 is planned to be launched in 2031 as part of the EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS) Programm in cooperation with ESA.

EarthCARE

Solar radiation drives atmospheric circulation and hence weather and climate. Accurate knowledge about solar and terrestrial radiation and their interaction with clouds, aerosol particles, and trace gases is therefore required for the determination of the Earth’s radiation budget that controls climate. The EarthCARE satellite mission, to be launched by ESA in May 2024, is expected to provide new insights into aerosol-cloud-radiation interactions thanks to simultaneous active and passive observations of the Earth’s atmosphere.

MERLIN

Knowledge about the emissions of methane is of great importance for climate prediction. Large uncertainties exist in the assessment of tropical and boreal wetlands, which comprise the largest natural sources. By using lidar measurements of atmospheric methane, mission MERLIN is expected to significantly improve our knowledge of natural and anthropogenic methane emissions on a global basis. It is a joint cooperation between France and Germany with the satellite launch foreseen in 2029.