Development of a micro-satellite compatible FTS sounder for sun-occultation measurements

Philippe Giaccari; Louis M. Moreau; Jacques G. Giroux; Marc-André Soucy

doi:10.1117/12.830504

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22 September 2009 Development of a micro-satellite compatible FTS sounder for sun-occultation measurements

Philippe Giaccari, Louis M. Moreau, Jacques G. Giroux, Marc-André Soucy

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Proceedings Volume 7474, Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites XIII; 74741N (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.830504
Event: SPIE Remote Sensing, 2009, Berlin, Germany

Abstract

The SciSat/ACE mission provided, and still provides, high quality and high spectral resolution measurements of the atmosphere with a FTS sounder in sun-occultation configuration. Based on the comprehensive results and models of SciSat/ACE it is foreseen that most of the desired information can also be retrieved from lower spectral resolution measurements with higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and appropriate data treatment. With the Canadian Space Agency under the Space Technologies Development Program, ABB Analytical developed a small size sun-occultation sounder compatible with a micro-satellite platform that has identical throughput, spectral bandwidth and vertical resolution as ACE. The spectral resolution is decreased by a factor 25 (0.6 cm^-1 instead of 0.024 cm^-1 for ACE) whereas the SNR performance is highly increased with an equal factor (target of 2500 instead of 100 for ACE over most of the spectral bandwidth between 750 and 4000 cm^-1).A prototype of the sun-occultation sounder was built, tested under various thermal conditions and subjected to vibrations similar to those expected at launch. An outdoor experiment was also conducted to test the instrument in sun-occultation conditions. The good behavior of the instrument indicates interesting opportunities for such small footprint sounder on a low-cost micro-satellite mission and potentially good earth coverage if several of such instruments are used in coordination. Depending on the scientific needs, it is possible to adapt the proposed instrument to increase the vertical resolution and/or to extend the measurements on lower altitudes due to the higher SNR performances.

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Philippe Giaccari, Louis M. Moreau, Jacques G. Giroux, and Marc-André Soucy "Development of a micro-satellite compatible FTS sounder for sun-occultation measurements", Proc. SPIE 7474, Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites XIII, 74741N (22 September 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.830504

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