AOTF-Based Spectral Imaging for Balloon-Borne Platforms

A balloon-borne Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter (AOTF) hyperspectral imager is ideally suited to address numerous outstanding questions in planetary science. The spectral agility, narrowband wavelength selection, tolerance to the near-space environment, and spectral coverage afforded by AOTFs would enable investigations not feasible from ground-based facilities. Example use cases include synoptic observations of clouds on Venus and the giant planets, studies of molecular emissions from cometary comae, the mapping of hydrocarbon ices on the surfaces of Triton, and polarimetry. A notional AOTF imager design includes both visible and near-infrared channels to take full advantage of the spectral coverage of an AOTF. Although technical challenges such as detector cooling would require further performance modeling, an AOTF hyperspectral imager is a logical choice for planetary science investigations from a balloon platform and would constitute a logical next step in the demonstration of AOTFs as a enabling technology for planetary flight projects.