# ALADIN (Atmospheric Laser Doppler Instrument)
*sensor . products*

## Specifications
- **collection**: products
- **manufacturer**: esa
- **deployment context**: orbital
- **sensor**: {"instrument_family":"lidar","measurement_principle":"active","wavelength_nm":355,"return_type":"direct-detection-wind"}
- **entity type**: sensor
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-04
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: esa
- **attributes**: {"collection":"products","kind":"sensor","manufacturer":"esa","deployment_context":"orbital","sensor":"{\"instrument_family\":\"lidar\",\"measurement_principle\":\"active\",\"wavelength_nm\":355,\"return_type\":\"direct-detection-wind\"}"}
- **technology**: lidar

## Editorial
ALADIN (Atmospheric Laser Doppler Instrument) is a direct-detection Doppler wind lidar developed by Airbus Defence and Space for the European Space Agency (ESA) as the sole instrument aboard the Aeolus satellite (ADM-Aeolus). It operates at 355 nm in the ultraviolet and uses two spectrometer channels: a Fabry-Perot interferometer for Mie scattering from aerosols and cloud particles, and a Fizeau interferometer for Rayleigh scattering from molecules, to retrieve horizontal line-of-sight wind profiles from the ground to approximately 30 km altitude.[^esa-earthonline-aladin][^oscar-aladin]

Laser pulse energy during operations is reported as 60 mJ by eoPortal [^eoportal-aeolus] and as 80 mJ by the ESA EO Gateway instrument page [^esa-earthonline-aladin]; WMO OSCAR also records 80 mJ [^oscar-aladin]. The 60 mJ figure corresponds to an earlier design specification; 80 mJ reflects the as-built and in-orbit operational value.

Aeolus was launched in August 2018 and conducted nominal science operations through 30 April 2023, after which the mission was ended and the satellite was guided to an assisted reentry on 28 July 2023.[^esa-aeolus-ops] First wind observations from ALADIN were validated against airborne Doppler wind lidar reference measurements.[^amt-2020-aeolus-validation]

ALADIN was the first spaceborne direct-detection Doppler wind lidar; data from the instrument were assimilated into numerical weather prediction systems at centres globally during its mission lifetime.[^esa-earthonline-aladin]

## Compositional position
- aeolus (missions) --[mission_payloads]--> ALADIN (Atmospheric Laser Doppler Instrument)

## Sources
- [esa-earthonline-aladin] | ALADIN instrument description - ESA Earth Online | https://earth.esa.int/eogateway/instruments/aladin/description | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-04
- [oscar-aladin] | WMO OSCAR - ALADIN instrument details | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/instruments/view/aladin | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-04
- [eoportal-aeolus] | Aeolus / ADM (Atmospheric Dynamics Mission) - eoPortal | https://www.eoportal.org/satellite-missions/aeolus | tier=community | accessed=2026-06-04
- [esa-aeolus-ops] | Aeolus operations - ESA | https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/Aeolus_operations | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-04
- [amt-2020-aeolus-validation] | First validation of Aeolus wind observations by airborne Doppler wind lidar measurements (AMT, 2020) | https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/13/2381/2020/ | tier=peer-reviewed | accessed=2026-06-04

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/aladin
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)