Abstract

A Michelson interferometer has been built to measure the wind and temperature in the earth’s upper atmosphere using nightglow emissions from atomic oxygen and radical OH. The interferometer uses field compensation to give large geometric etendu allowing measurements with emission lines of intensity of ~30 R at zenith. For wind measurement, it is thermally stabilized permitting operation without difficulty. The instrument incorporates calibration sources allowing temperature and wind measurements. It is operated at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence (43°56′N, 5°43′E, France) in summer and Sodankyla (67°22′N, 26°38′E, Finland) in winter. Its performance is illustrated by some examples of measurements and results.

© 1991 Optical Society of America

ERWIN: an E-region wind interferometer

W. A. Gault, S. Brown, A. Moise, D. Liang, G. Sellar, G. G. Shepherd, and J. Wimperis
Appl. Opt. 35(16) 2913-2922 (1996)

In-flight calibration of the Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII) on board the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite

Gérard Thuillier, William Gault, Jean-Francis Brun, Michel Hersé, William Ward, and Charles Hersom
Appl. Opt. 37(8) 1356-1369 (1998)

Application of Doppler Michelson imaging to upper atmospheric wind measurement: WINDII and beyond

Gordon G. Shepherd
Appl. Opt. 35(16) 2764-2773 (1996)

Ground based instrument for observing near IR nightglow inhomogeneities at zenith and throughout the sky

Michel Herse, Gerard Thuillier, Guy Camman, Jean-Louis Chevassut, and Michel Fehrenbach
Appl. Opt. 28(18) 3944-3949 (1989)

Polar cap mesosphere wind observations: comparisons of simultaneous measurements with a Fabry–Perot interferometer and a field-widened Michelson interferometer

Genene M. Fisher, Timothy L. Killeen, Qian Wu, J. Michael Reeves, Paul B. Hays, William A. Gault, Stephen Brown, and Gordon G. Shepherd
Appl. Opt. 39(24) 4284-4291 (2000)