The Earth Explorer Mission Aeolus for atmospheric wind observations – Final Report from the Aeolus Data Innovation and Science Cluster DISC of Phase E

Launched in August 2018, ESA’s Earth Explorer mission Aeolus was the first to measure atmospheric wind profiles on a global scale. As the first-ever Doppler Wind Lidar instrument in space, Aeolus significantly contributed to the improvement in numerical weather prediction (NWP) by measuring one component of the horizontal wind vector. The operational phase of the mission concluded in April 2023, followed by an extended instrument testing phase until July
2023. Aeolus successfully achieved its mission objectives, demonstrating a clear positive impact on weather forecasts across several NWP models.

These accomplishments were made possible through the critical contributions from the Aeolus Data Innovation and Science Cluster (DISC). The DISC supported the mission with a wide range of activities, including instrument and product quality monitoring, retrieval algorithm and operational processor enhancements, and NWP impact assessments using wind and aerosol products from Aeolus. Coordinated by DLR, the Aeolus DISC brought together expertise from ECMWF, KNMI, Météo-France, TROPOS, DoRIT, ABB, S&T, Serco, OLA, Physics Solutions, IB Reissig and Les Myriades, involving more than 40 scientists and engineers within the DISC.

This Final Report summarizes the contributions from the Aeolus DISC during the operational phase of the Aeolus mission from 2018 to 2023. It also includes a chapter on lessons learnt for future Earth observation missions, with a particular focus on the recently launched EarthCARE mission and the development of the upcoming Aeolus-2 mission.