Noise performance of the NPOESS Airborne Sounder Testbed Interferometer (NAST-I) sounder: flight and model results

Michael W. Kelly; Michael J. Gazarik; Richard M. Marino

doi:10.1117/12.363520

24 September 1999 Noise performance of the NPOESS Airborne Sounder Testbed Interferometer (NAST-I) sounder: flight and model results

Michael W. Kelly, Michael J. Gazarik, Richard M. Marino

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 3750, Earth Observing Systems IV; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.363520
Event: SPIE's International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1999, Denver, CO, United States

Abstract

NAST-1 is a Fourier transform interferometric sounder that provides very high spectral and spatial resolution measurements of the Earth's atmosphere. The interferometer provides two dimensional, low noise data from the NASA ER-2 aircraft suitable for synthesizing data products of future satellite-borne sounding instrument candidates. It is the first such high altitude aircraft or satellite borne instrument. The instrument provides a 2.6 km nadir footprint and a cross-track field of regard of +/- 48.2 degrees. The instrument has a continuous spectral range of 3.6-16.1 micrometers , spectral resolution of 0.25 cm^-1, and radiometric noise on the order of 0.25 K. NAST-1 has proven to be an extremely reliable instrument generating over 100 hours of high-quality flight data, and was delivered to the sponsor on a very tight schedule. Using a first principles model, the noise performance of the instrument was modeled and found to be in close agreement with noise measured in- flight. Alignment jitter has been identified as the major contributor to the system NEdN. This paper describes the mode used to predict the instrument noise performance and discusses the comparison to actual flight data.

Citation Download Citation

Michael W. Kelly, Michael J. Gazarik, and Richard M. Marino "Noise performance of the NPOESS Airborne Sounder Testbed Interferometer (NAST-I) sounder: flight and model results", Proc. SPIE 3750, Earth Observing Systems IV, (24 September 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.363520

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available