SHIMMER on STPSat-1: First Results

Physics – Optics

Scientific paper

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0317 Chemical Kinetic And Photochemical Properties, 0319 Cloud Optics, 0340 Middle Atmosphere: Composition And Chemistry

Scientific paper

The Spatial Heterodyne Imager for Mesospheric Radicals (SHIMMER) is the primary payload of STPSat-1, a small satellite launched in March 2007. SHIMMER measures the solar resonance fluorescence of hydroxyl (OH) and solar scattering from the atmosphere around 309nm, between about 35km and 95km altitude, with a sample spacing of about 2km, covering latitudes of up to 58 degrees. SHIMMER is in a low inclination orbit with a local time precession of about 30min/day which allows the investigation of local solar time effects not possible from satellites in sun synchronous orbits. The main goal of the SHIMMER mission is the investigation of the seasonal and local time dependence of mesospheric OH, which is also a good proxy for water vapor in the upper mesosphere. In addition, SHIMMER observes sunlight scattered by Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMCs) between ~50N-58N. We will briefly review the basics of Spatial Heterodyne Spectroscopy (SHS), which is the optical technique used by SHIMMER, and the specific design of SHIMMER on STPSat-1. Subsequently, we will present the first hydroxyl data from SHIMMER. We will compare with photochemical model calculations and data from the OH channel of the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) on the NASA Aura satellite taken at the same local solar time. SHIMMER is a joint effort between the Naval Research Laboratory and the DoD Space Test Program (SMC/TEL).

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