Abstract

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) instruments have been used to make radiometrically accurate measurements of atmospheric emission from high altitude aircraft and from the ground. These demonstrate a wide range of capabilities for routine remote sensing from ground-based and spacecraft facilities. Applications of this type of observation to atmospheric remote sensing include the measurement of temperature, water vapor, and trace gas profiles; cloud heights, effective particle sizes, and phase; and surface temperatures and emissivities; these are in addition to the direct radiances for climate change studies and for atmospheric spectroscopy. The FTIR instruments currently in use at the University of Wisconsin are the High-Resolution Interferometer Sounder (HIS) aircraft instrument (NASA ER-2 aircraft), the ground-based "baby" HIS, and the DOE Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI). These instruments are designed around commercially available interferometers from Bomem, Inc., and make use of precise reference blackbodies for calibration. The extensive observations from these instruments cover the spectral region from 3.6 to 20 μm with resolving powers of 1000 to 4000. Experience with these instruments has also led to several spacecraft instrument designs.

© 1992 Optical Society of America