AOTF ENHANCEMENTS FOR SPACE BASED SPECTROPOLARIMETER

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP TECHNOLOGY FOR ASPACE-BORNE IMAGING SPECTROPOLARIMETER UTILIZING ACOUSTO-OPTIC TUNABLE FILTERS (AOTFS). THE MAJOR SIGNIFICANT INNOVATION OF THIS PROPOSED PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP OBSERVATIONAL SCHEME TO RETURN HIGH QUALITY I,Q, ANDU STOKES PARAMETERS UTILIZING THE PERFORMANCE ADVANTAGES OF AOTFS. SPECIFIC INNOVATIONS INCLUDE: *EXTENDED AOTF SPECTRAL COVERAGE WITH A MINIMUM OF DEVICES. *THE DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE TRANSDUCER AND/OR AOTF DESIGNS TO PROVIDE FLEXIBLE CHOICES OF PASSBAND SHAPE AND/OR POSITION(S). *THE USE OF NEW MATERIALS TO DEVELOP AOTFS ANDPOLARIZERS CAPABLE OF EFFICIENT OPERATION TO 2000 A, WHERE PERFORMANCE HAS BEEN LIMITED, THE DEVELOPMENT OF AOTF-SPECIFIC OPTICAL DESIGNS. IN ADDITION TO DEVICE INNOVATIONS, NOVAL POST-DETECTION DATA REDUCTION AND COMPRESSION TECHNIQUES ARE PROPOSED.