The Michelson Interferometer for Global High-resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI): Wind and Temperature Observations from the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON)

In September 2011 the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) mission was selected by NASA for an eleven month concept study, which precedes the final NASA Explorer mission selection anticipated in March 2013. ICON investigates the extreme variability of the Earth's ionosphere with a unique combination of sensors on-board a low Earth orbit satellite. The Michelson Interferometer for Global High-resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI) is one of the ICON instruments. It will measure the global distribution of neutral winds and temperatures using heritage techniques over an altitude range not accessible to in-situ probes. The wind data will be obtained from Doppler shift measurements of the naturally occurring atomic oxygen green (λ=557.7nm) and red (λ=630.0nm) emission lines. Lower thermospheric temperature data will be obtained from the spectral shape of the molecular oxygen atmospheric emission band around λ=762nm. We will present the MIGHTI instrument design and performance estimates together with important instrument features including the on-board calibration capability and the coverage of a large tangent height interval without a scan mirror.