Abstract

A series of far-ir Michelson interferometers utilizing the rapid-scanning technique have been designed and built for balloon-borne measurement of the emission spectrum of the stratosphere. Design criteria for such instrumentation are presented, and details of the evolution of these designs are discussed, including liquid helium-cooled bolometer detector systems, internal blackbody calibration, and atmospheric limb-scanning. Stratospheric emission spectra between 30 cm⁻¹ and 110 cm⁻¹ at a resolution of 0.07 cm⁻¹ are presented as examples of results taken at balloon altitudes, and the merits of this type of instrumentation for monitoring stratospheric trace gas constituent concentrations are discussed.

© 1979 Optical Society of America

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