After years of preparation, the European Space Agency (ESA) is finally ready to send two powerful lasers into orbit in order to better study the Earth's winds next year.

A structural model of Aeouls ESA

Wind is created by contrasts in climate, and has a huge effect on a planet's weather systems. The ESA's Living Planet Program has been exploring widespread but under-examined aspects of the Earth's environment, from soil to magnetism. ADM-Aeouls, named after the Keeper of Winds in Homer's Odyssey, will study how winds operate to improve weather tracking. The information Aelous gets on aerosols and clouds will improve our understanding of atmospheric dynamics, which basically includes all motion systems of meteorological significance, like thunderstorms, tornadoes, tropical hurricanes, extratropical cyclones, jet streams, and global-scale circulations.

How's it going to do that? Lasers. The Aladin lasers and telescope built for Aeouls will generate ultraviolet light that will be beamed towards Earth. This light will then, according to the ESA, "bounce off of air molecules and small particles such as dust, ice and droplets of water in the atmosphere. The fraction of light that is scattered back towards the satellite is collected by Aladin's telescope and measured."

Aladin ESA lasers ESA

Because of how close it is to the planet it will be monitoring, Aeouls will be able to deliver its data in near-real time, meaning , according to Prof. Erland Källé, Director of Research at the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts, Aeouls will be able to improve our understanding of "oceans in both hemispheres for determining the position and evolution of jet streams and atmospheric fronts" pretty much as soon as it's turned on.

Source: ESA

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