Lidar Remote sensing validation
Published: Monday, July 28, 2008
Kipp & Zonen has supplied an advanced Raman Lidar system, designed and manufactured by Raymetrics of Athens, to the European Space Research and Technology Centre of the European Space Agency (ESA/ESTEC). At ESA/ESTEC more than 2000 specialists work on the development and management of projects including Earth observation, human spaceflight, telecoms and satellite navigation.
Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) is an active remote sensing technique for monitoring atmospheric processes and properties with high temporal and spatial resolution and it is a key part of the ADM-Aeolus mission. This space program makes observations of global wind profiles, vertical aerosol and cloud profiles, using a space-borne Lidar. Its main goal is to improve the quality of weather forecasts and to gain a better understanding of atmospheric and climatological processes.
A space-borne Lidar system is a powerful measurement tool but, in order to provide accurate measurement data, regular calibration of such a system is required by comparison to ground-based instruments. ESA/ESTEC now has a state of the art Raymetrics Raman Lidar system to perform ‘groundtruthing’ atmospheric profile measurements within the framework of the ADM-Aeolus mission. The system was installed and commissioned by our experts and ESA/ESTEC personnel received comprehensive training.
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