Aeolus is the fifth satellite in ESA’s Living Planet Program and has become one of the highest, impact-per-observation instruments in existence. The sensor is capable of observing Earth’s surface weather systems and into the stratosphere, 30 km high.
The data from the Aeolus satellite observations have been used to improve weather forecasts and climate models. They have also been used for tracking Saharan dust storms and enabling a better understanding of plumes from volcanoes. The Aeolus mission has paved the way for future operational meteorological satellites dedicated to studying Earth’s wind profiles.
The Teledyne team manufactured a bespoke sensor for Aeolus with a novel design specifically for this application. The sensor collects many signals from different altitudes, enabling Aeolus to measure wind speed at different heights throughout the atmosphere.
The Teledyne e2v Space Imaging team continue to specialize in bespoke detectors to meet the ever-increasing number of Earth Observation missions.
Paul Jerram, Chief Engineer, Teledyne e2v Aeolus team said, “The Teledyne Space Imaging team have enjoyed being part of this successful demonstrator mission which has far exceeded expectations. We look forward to building a detector with improved performance for the Aeolus-2 follow-up mission. We are proud to have assisted most of the world’s weather forecasting agencies in improved accuracy of long-range forecasts.”
