The Infrared Cloud Imager
Abstract
Operations and performance specifications of the National Space Science and Technology’s (NSSTI) newly developed Infrared Cloud Imager (IRCI) are presented. This instrument, which utilizes a mid-infrared (8 13 micron) 320x240 uncooled microbolometer array, has been successfully demonstrated to delineate clouds for the purposes of improving astronomical observational efficiency. IRCI attains infrared images of the sky over a 150-degree cone angle (i.e. down to 15 degrees above the horizon) at a 5 Hz frame rate. By coadding frames, this instrument is capable of detecting thin cirrus clouds. Images are displayed as the ratio of the sky’s mid-infrared radiance to a blackbody at ambient temperature. Data can be utilized to determine atmospheric transmission in the mid-infrared spectral interval on approximately one-degree spatial scales. A variety of routines can utilize IRCI data to augment astronomical observing procedures.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #200
- Pub Date:
- June 2002
- Bibcode:
- 2002AAS...200.6310K