Abstract
Abstract. In this paper we present both night and day thermospheric wind observations made with the Second-generation, Optimized, Fabry-Perot Doppler Imager (SOFDI), a novel triple-etalon Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) designed to make 24-h measurements of thermospheric winds from OI 630-nm emission. These results were obtained from the northeastern United States and from under the magnetic equator at Huancayo, Peru and demonstrate the current instrument capability for measurements of Doppler shifts for either night or day. We found the uncertainties in the measurements agree with expected values based upon forward modeling calculations; nighttime wind components having an uncertainty of ~20-m s−1 at 30-min resolution and daytime wind components having an uncertainty of ~70-m s−1 at 20-min resolution. The nighttime uncertainties are typically larger than those seen with traditional single-etalon FPIs, which occur at the cost of being able to achieve daytime measurements. The thermospheric wind measurements from Huancayo replicate recently reported CHAMP zonal winds and are in disagreement with current empirical wind climatologies. In addition, we discuss the incorporation of how multiple point heads in the SOFDI instrument will allow for unique studies of gravity wave activity in future measurements.
Highlights
Understanding the development and evolution of localized spread-F is a problem of fundamental plasma physics as well as an important engineering issue
Most Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) measurements are only possible during nighttime conditions when there is no solar background obscuring the thermospheric emission line
SOFDI is a triple-etalon FPI capable of making wind and temperature measurements from the spectra obtained for a variety of upper atmospheric emission lines
Summary
Understanding the development and evolution of localized spread-F is a problem of fundamental plasma physics as well as an important engineering issue (e.g., see Kelley, 2009, and references therein along with 13 consecutive years of papers from the Ionospheric Effects Symposium, Alexandria, VA, ies2011.com). W. Meriwether: SOFDI 630-nm OI wind observations technology, the Second-generation Optimized Fabry-Perot Doppler Imager (SOFDI) was constructed with the purpose of measuring continuous 24-h (i.e., nighttime and daytime) winds and temperatures from the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere. Meriwether: SOFDI 630-nm OI wind observations technology, the Second-generation Optimized Fabry-Perot Doppler Imager (SOFDI) was constructed with the purpose of measuring continuous 24-h (i.e., nighttime and daytime) winds and temperatures from the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere This particular project was initially funded so that the 24-h ground-based wind measurements from SOFDI could be used to validate in-situ wind measurements from the Air Force Communications/Navigations Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) satellite, which is part of an intensive satellite and data assimilation/operational space weather modeling program that will attempt to predict the low latitude occurrence of equatorial spread-F (ESF).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
