DOPPLER IMAGING PHOTOMETER

A GROUND-BASED DOPPLER IMAGING PHOTOMETER CAN PROVIDE WIND IMAGES IN THE LOWER THERMOSPHERE. SUCH IMAGES PROVIDE INFORMATION ON THE COUPLING BETWEEN THE IONOSPHERE AND THE THERMOSPHERE. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PHASE I RESEARCH IS TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING A DOPPLER IMAGING PHOTOMETER CAPABLE OF MEASURING UPPER ATMOSPHERE WIND VELOCITIES BY SENSING THE DOPPLER SHIFT OF ATMOSPHERIC EMISSIONS. THE CRITICAL CONCEPT THAT WILL BE INVESTIGATED WILL BE THE USE OF A FABRY-PEROT ETALON IN AN IMAGING SYSTEM. NEW INNOVATIVE CONCEPTS FOR DIVIDING THE IMAGE INTO DISCRETE PORTIONS SO A SINGLE ETALON MAY BE USED TO IMAGE MULTIPLE PIXELS AND NEW OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY TO OBTAIN VERY HIGH SENSITIVITY ARE PROPOSED. THE KEY TO THE FEASIBILITY OF THIS INSTRUMENT IS TO PROVE THESE CONCEPTS. BOTH OPTICAL ANALYSIS AND EXPERIMENTAL BREADBOARD TESTS ARE PROPOSED TO VERIFY THAT THESE INNOVATIONS WILL PRODUCE A WORKABLE INSTRUMENT. DESIGN GOALS AREA: 50 RAYLEIGH SENSITIVITY, 10 KM/SEC FREE SPECTRAL RANGE, 630 NM AND 732 NM WAVELENGTH IMAGING, ALL-SKY COVERAGE, 5-MINUTE INTEGRATION TIME, NEAR REAL-TIME PROCESSING AND PORTABILITY. THE PROPOSED CONCEPT IS AN INNOVATIVE COMBINATION OF MULTIPIXEL IMAGING AND FABRY-PEROT INTERFEROMETRY. THE PHASE I RESEARCH WILL VERIFY FEASIBILITY AND PRODUCE A PRELIMINARY DESIGN FOR A PHASE II PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT. A DOPPLER IMAGING PHOTOMETER OF THE PROPOSED DESIGN CAN BE USED TO INSTRUMENT IONOSPHERIC DRIFT NETWORK STATIONS SPONSORED BY NSF. A DOPPLER IMAGER CAN ALSO BE OF USE IN ROCKET ENGINE AND HIGH MACH NUMBER WIND TUNNEL TESTS IN GOVERNMENT AND CIVILIAN TEST PROGRAMS.