Development of a Miniaturised Remote Sensing Interferometer
Abstract
A breadboard model of a miniaturised space based Fourier Transform spectrometer, with a mass of 2kgs and spectral resolution of 2cm-1, has been designed and built. This unique imaging spectrometer has been designed for use on a micro-satellite platform and is intended for atmospheric remote sensing applications. In this poster the first results from this instrument are presented, and its potential application and benefits over existing technologies, demonstrated.
The "Spatially Modulated Interferometer" (SMI) is a Fourier transform spectrometer with no moving parts. It uses a rigid optical system to shear an input beam into two halves that are recombined to form a spatially modulated interference pattern more commonly referred as an interferogram. The interferogram is produced at the focal plane of the optical system where a detector array is situated. A line of pixels in the array measures a single interferogram, and so by using a two dimensional array multiple interferograms simultaneously be recorded, where each interferogram represents a different image pixel. In the SMI instrument the interferogram is sampled using mid-infrared MCT detector array with 2 x 512 pixels. Since any change in the measured radiation leads to a corresponding change in the interferogram, the SMI can effectively perform "roll out” measurements at a sampling rate limited only by the detector itself. This makes the interferometer time-invariant with respect to a fluctuating target scene or an unstable observation platform, and presents the opportunity to perform measurements with a very high temporal resolution. The SMI has been designed to be a compact and light and highly stable remote sensing instrument. With high spectral and temporal resolution, the instrument is ideally suited for both Earth and planetary based applications. Acknowledgements: This work is funded by the UK Science Technology Facilities Council.- Publication:
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AAS/Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting Abstracts #39
- Pub Date:
- October 2007
- Bibcode:
- 2007DPS....39.3409M