This paper presents the design of an innovative solar spectrometer that will y on the NSF/NCAR Gulfstream V High-Performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research (GV HIAPER) during the 2017 solar eclipse. The airborne infrared spectrometer (AIR-Spec) is groundbreaking in two aspects: it will image infrared coronal emission lines that have never been measured, and it will bring high resolution imaging to GV HIAPER. The instrument development faces the challenges of achieving adequate resolution and signal-to-noise ratio in a compact package mounted to a noisy moving platform. To ensure that AIR-Spec meets its research goals, the instrument is undergoing pre-flight modeling and testing. The results are presented with reference to the instrument requirements.

Date Published: 9 August 2016
PDF: 13 pages
Proc. SPIE 9908, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VI, 99085U (9 August 2016); doi: 10.1117/12.2232128

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9908:
Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VI
Christopher J. Evans; Luc Simard; Hideki Takami, Editor(s)