Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.4515m&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #45.15; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.570
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
The "Spatially Modulated Interferometer" (SMI) is a proposed design concept for a miniaturised atmospheric remote sensing instrument. It is a Fourier transform spectrometer with no moving parts and uses a rigid optical system to shear an input beam into two halves that are tilted and recombined to form a spatially modulated interference pattern. The interference pattern is fixed in space and can be sampled instantaneously by a detector array. When a broad spectrum of colours are present the interference pattern is modulated into more complex standing wave patterns called interferograms. A two dimensional detector array can be used to record multiple interferograms simultaneously, with each interferogram representing a different image pixel. The `snap shot’ sampling of each interferogram in its entirety makes the interferometer time-invariant with respect to a fluctuating target scene or an unstable observation platform.
This unique instrument is being developed alongside an innovative digital match filter data processing method to sample the infrared spectrum at high resolution and integrate over only samples relevant to a particular gas, thus improving signal to noise and reducing data rate. This method is the digital equivalent of a Pressure Modulated radiometer, which oscillates the pressure in a gas cell to determine the abundance level of the selected gas. The PM reduces the data rate by two orders of magnitude with respect to conventional high resolution spectrometers, which are typically large, heavy, and power hungry.
The joint development of the SMI and data processing algorithm will create a compact and light remote sensing instrument that can measure high resolution spectra without the generation of a large amount of data which would be ideal for a micro-satellite for both planetary and Earth observing objectives.
Acknowledgements: This work is funded by the UK Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council.
Calcutt Simon B.
Mortimer Alwyn H.
Reininger F.
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