Ground-truthing
Published: Monday, July 28, 2008
The ADM-Aeolus mission of ESA makes observations from space of the profiles of global wind, vertical aerosols and clouds. The goal is to gain better understanding of atmospheric and climatological processes. Recently ESA acquired from Kipp & Zonen a Raymetrics Raman LIDAR system to measure accurate atmospheric aerosol profiles with a range of over 15 km. ESA uses these measurements to calibrate the space borne Lidar on the ADM-Aeolus satellite mission.
LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) is an active remote sensing technique for monitoring atmospheric processes and properties with high temporal and spatial resolution. It is a key part of the ADM-Aeolus mission. The mission’s main goal is to improve the quality of weather forecasts and to gain a better understanding of atmospheric and climatological processes. The space program uses a space-born LIDAR to make observations of:
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 now has a state-of-the-art Raman LIDAR system designed and manufactured by Raymetrics of Athens and supplied by Kipp & Zonen. This advanced instrument performs ‘ground-truthing’ of atmospheric profile measurements within the framework of the ADM-Aeolus mission.
Raman LIDAR systems designed by Raymetrics provide high quality data combined with reliable turn-key outdoor operation. In addition, Raymetrics has expert engineering capabilities to provide customization of the Lidar systems at the client’s request. For these reasons ESA chose our Lidar system to satisfy their measurement requirements.
The system supplied to ESA is a two wavelength Raman Lidar system with depolarization detection. The system emits simultaneous green and ultraviolet laser pulses. It derives accurate atmospheric profiles of aerosol backscatter, extinction and optical depth with a range of over 15 km. The depolarization detection provides information on the shape of the aerosols. The measurement results will be used to calibrate the data from the ADM-Aeolus satellite instruments.
The system offers a high energy level per pulse, which is crucial to achieving its excellent performance. Combined with the best available detectors, optics, electronics and a 400mm receiving telescope this system provides superior performance in every way.
Raymetrics LIDAR systems from Kipp & Zonen can be configured in a wide range of specifications to suit the specific application. Eye-safe and 3-D scanning versions are also available.