A highly miniaturized satellite payload based on a spatial heterodyne spectrometer for atmospheric temperature measurements in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere

摘要

A highly miniaturized limb sounder for the observation of the O2 A-Band to derive temperatures in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere is presented. The instrument consists of a monolithic spatial heterodyne spectrometer (SHS), which is able to resolve the rotational structure of the R-branch of that band. The relative intensities of the emission lines follow a Boltzmann distribution and the ratio of the lines can be used to derive the kinetic temperature. The SHS operates at a Littrow wavelength of 761.8 nm and heterodynes a wavelength regime between 761.9 nm and 765.3 nm with a resolving power of about 8000 considering apodization effects. The size of the SHS is 38 × 38 × 27 mm3 and its acceptance angle is ±5°. It has an etendue of 0.014 cm2 sr. Complemented by a front optics with a solid angle of 0.65° and a detector optics, the entire optical system fits into a volume of about 1.5 liters. This allows to fly this instrument on a 3 or 6 unit CubeSat. The vertical field of view of the instrument is about 60 km at the Earth's limb if operated in a typical low Earth orbit. Integration times to obtain an entire altitude profile of nighttime temperatures are in the order of one minute for a vertical resolution of 1.5 km and a random noise level of 1.5 K. Daytime integration times are one order of magnitude shorter. This work presents the design parameters of the optics and a radiometric assessment of the instrument. Furthermore it gives an overview of the required characterization and calibration steps. This includes the characterization of image distortions in the different parts of the optics, flat fielding and the spectral power estimation.