The global observation of profiles of the atmospheric wind speed is the highest-priority unmet need for global numerical weather prediction. Satellite Doppler lidar is the most promising candidate to meet the requirements on global wind profile observations with high vertical resolution, precision, and accuracy. The European Space Agency (ESA) decided to implement a Doppler wind lidar mission called the Atmospheric Dynamics Mission Aeolus (ADM-Aeolus) to demonstrate the potential of the Doppler lidar technology and the expected impact on numerical weather forecasting. An airborne prototype of the instrument on ADM-Aeolus was developed to validate the instrument concept and retrieval algorithms with realistic atmospheric observations before the satellite launch. It is the first airborne direct-detection Doppler lidar for atmospheric observations, and it is operating at an ultraviolet wavelength of 355 nm. The optical design is described in detail, including the single-frequency pulsed laser and th...

/pdf/the-airborne-demonstrator-for-the-direct-detection-doppler-1ke8occ5y4.pdf

The Airborne Demonstrator for the Direct-Detection Doppler Wind Lidar ALADIN on ADM-Aeolus. Part I: Instrument Design and Comparison to Satellite Instrument

A review of recent wake vortex research for increasing airport capacity

Air turbulence has become a major cause of significant injuries and aircraft damages. Timely advanced warning of turbulence ahead of an aircraft may allow pilots to take appropriate action to minimize potential damage, such as reducing speed and securing passengers and unsecured objects, or to avoid the turbulence altogether. The aim of our research is to develop a practical, onboard, Lidar-based proactive sensor that will detect air turbulence in clear air at a range of 5 n miles (9.3 km) at cruising altitudes. In February 2007 we successfully measured wind speeds approximately 3 n miles (5.6 km) ahead of an aircraft in low-altitude flight experiments, and in a subsequent experiment in July of the same year, we succeeded in detecting air turbulence before encountering it. An upgraded 5-n-mile Lidar for low altitudes was developed in fiscal year 2007, and has successfully measured wind speeds at ranges up to 5 n miles in ground tests. This paper describes the master development plan of our Lidar turbulence sensor and the results of basic flight and ground experiments.

Development of an Onboard Doppler Lidar for Flight Safety

Development of an onboard doppler lidar for flight safety

This paper presents a combined feedback and feedforward active load alleviation system and its associated design and tuning methodology The feedback part is strongly structured and its robust performance across the flight envelope is ensured by the use of a multi-model and multi-objective controller design approach The feedforward function is based on a Doppler LIDAR sensor and the processing of the measurements as well as their physical interpretation combines various ideas from the system identification, the signal processing, and the control design domains The proposed solution remains very easy to use and tune, thanks to a limited number of parameters that can easily be interpreted physically and that exhibit only very little and very predictable couplings The performance and behavior of the active load alleviation functions is shown extensively based on a representative flexible long range aircraft model (based on the Airbus XRF1 configuration)

/pdf/combined-feedback-and-lidar-based-feedforward-active-load-3uz7ffib43.pdf

Combined Feedback and LIDAR-Based Feedforward Active Load Alleviation

Within the European Commission's 6/sup th/ framework program "AWIATOR", an airborne turbulence sensor system was developed using a short-pulse, UV direct-detection LIDAR, which will be presented here. The system is designed to feed back turbulence data into the aircraft flight control system in order to directly counteract the turbulence influence on the aircraft.

H. Diehl

Papers

The AWIATOR airborne LIDAR turbulence sensor