Ultraviolet (UV) observations are essential for meeting operational requirements for space weather specification. Such observations provide valuable information about neutral and ion density variations in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. However, the resources required to support the necessary ultraviolet sensors are significant. Current operational sensors measure the limb profiles by mechanically scanning the field-of-view across the limb. This mechanical scan mechanism requires significant power, has a potential for failure, and the high counting rates during observations near the peak of the limb profile require high speed detectors to accommodate the counting rates when using the high sensitivity sensors. Also, the attitude information and stability needed for accurate limb profiles are more difficult on smaller spacecraft and require considerable resources. This paper describes an instrument that can provide limb observations of the UV airglow by aligning the slit perpendicular to the limb. To measure the limb profile without scanning requires a combination of wide field-of-view and high spatial resolution which previous instruments have been unable to provide. This approach would require significantly less resources (power, weight, etc.) than current sensors, while providing similar performance.

Date Published: 30 December 2004
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 5660, Instruments, Science, and Methods for Geospace and Planetary Remote Sensing, (30 December 2004); doi: 10.1117/12.580861

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 5660:
Instruments, Science, and Methods for Geospace and Planetary Remote Sensing
Carl A. Nardell; Paul G. Lucey; Jeng-Hwa Yee; James B. Garvin, Editor(s)