About

• Aeolus wind satellite was an Earth Observation Satellite project to study winds from space was launched by European Space Agency (ESA) in August 2018.
• It was deorbited and re-entered the atmosphere over Antarctica on 28 July 2023.
• It was the first satellite with equipment capable of performing global wind component profile observation and provided much-needed information to improve weather forecasting.

Objective

• The main goal of this mission was to further develop the knowledge of Earth’s atmosphere and weather systems.
• By recording and monitoring the weather in different parts of the world, Aeolus allowed scientists to build complex weather models, which could then be used to help predict how that environment will behave in the future.
• The mission thus improved the knowledge of all sorts of weather phenomena, from global warming to the effects of air pollution.
• It mainly uses ultraviolet pulses for this purpose generated by a UV Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) device also called as ALADIN (Atmospheric Laser Doppler Instrument). This gives us the movement of air molecules in space.