AEOLUS

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AEOLUS is classified as:

Space & Earth Science

NORAD ID: 43600

Int'l Code: 2018-066A

Perigee: 316.2 km

Apogee: 319.6 km

Inclination: 96.7 °

Period: 90.7 minutes

Semi major axis: 6688 km

RCS: Unknown

Launch date: August 22, 2018
Source: European Space Agency (ESA)
Launch site: FRENCH GUIANA (FRGUI)

AEOLUS is a European satellite hosting a spaceborne laser crafted to measure winds in Earth's atmosphere. AEOLUS will gather the first comprehensive worldwide measurements of wind speed—over oceans and land masses—from Earth's surface to an altitude of nearly 100,000 feet (30 kilometers). Data collected by the AEOLUS satellite will be fed into numerical weather prediction models, replacing simulated 'boundary conditions' in the computers models with near real-time measurements from space. AEOLUS was not conceived by ESA as an operational weather satellite, but forecasters will be some of the prime beneficiaries of the mission. The mission is named for a figure in Greek mythology who was appointed by the gods as 'keeper of the winds'. AEOLUS carries a high-power ultraviolet laser fired at 50 pulses per second toward the ground. Light emitted from the laser—the centerpiece of Aeolus's single science instrument—will bounce off air molecules, aerosol and cloud particles, and Earth's surface. A tiny fraction of the scattered ultraviolet photons will reflect back toward a 5-foot (1.5-meter) telescope on the Aeolus satellite. The light will return to the Aeolus satellite's Atmospheric Laser Doppler Instrument—ALADIN—with a slightly different color. By analyzing the change in color caused by the motion of atmospheric air molecules—known as the Doppler effect—scientists can derive wind speeds. Researchers also intend to analyze data from Aeolus to gain a better understanding of how winds are generated, and how atmospheric currents are linked to changes in Earth's climate.