Optical techniques for studying atmospheric properties by means of rocketborne UV-light sources
Abstract
Rocket and balloon-borne techniques for in-situ measurement of the vertical distribution of neutral gas constituents are reviewed. The Selective Optical Atmospheric Probe (SOAP) for middle atmosphere studies is introduced. The first version of SOAP was instrumented for noctilucent cloud studies and carried a pair of polarization photometers. Ionization chambers for observing direct solar UV radiation were used to extend the density measurements upward. The UV experiments failed due to contamination of optical surfaces during countdown. Purging with dry N2 solved this problem for SOAP 2. Optical active techniques prove useful in the measurement of minor constituents with high accuracy and precision. Study of the resonance scattering of air with a Kr line source indicates that with instrumental difficulties overcome, neutral density probes can deliver high resolution density profiles between 50 and 80 km.
- Publication:
-
European Rocket and Balloon Programmes and Related Research
- Pub Date:
- June 1983
- Bibcode:
- 1983ESASP.183..167Z
- Keywords:
-
- Neutral Gases;
- Rocket Sounding;
- Ultraviolet Photometry;
- Vertical Distribution;
- Aeronomy;
- Atmospheric Composition;
- Atmospheric Scattering;
- Mass Spectrometers;
- Rocket-Borne Instruments;
- Optics