ALADIN: the lidar instrument for the AEOLUS mission

The ALADIN Instrument is a Doppler Wind Lidar, which will be launched in 2007 aboard the ESA Core Explorer Aeolus Mission. The main purpose of this payload is the measurement of tropospheric wind profiles on a global scale. The concept is based on a solid-state Nd:YAG laser associated with a direct detection frequency receiver. Astrium-SAS is prime contractor for the development of ALADIN. This program includes in particular the development of a Pre Development Model for the critical parts of the instrument. This paper describes the flight instrument design and reviews the achievements of the PDM activities: this will cover in particular the development status of the engineering models of the CCD detectors, front-end units and spectrometers.