NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Far Ultraviolet Imaging from the Image SpacecraftDirect imaging of the magnetosphere by the IMAGE spacecraft will be supplemented by observation of the global aurora. The IMAGE satellite instrument complement includes three Far Ultraviolet (FUV) instruments. The Wideband Imaging Camera (WIC) will provide broad band ultraviolet images of the aurora for maximum spatial and temporal resolution by imaging the LBH N2 bands of the aurora. The Spectrographic Imager (SI), a novel form of monochromatic imager, will image the aurora, filtered by wavelength. The proton-induced component of the aurora will be imaged separately by measuring the Doppler-shifted Lyman-a. Finally, the GEO instrument will observe the distribution of the geocoronal emission to obtain the neutral background density source for charge exchange in the magnetosphere. The FUV instrument complement looks radially outward from the rotating IMAGE satellite and, therefore, it spends only a short time observing the aurora and the Earth during each spin. To maximize photon collection efficiency and use efficiently the short time available for exposures the FUV auroral imagers WIC and SI both have wide fields of view and take data continuously as the auroral region proceeds through the field of view. To minimize data volume, the set of multiple images are electronically co-added by suitably shifting each image to compensate for the spacecraft rotation. In order to minimize resolution loss, the images have to be distort ion-corrected in real time. The distortion correction is accomplished using high speed look up tables that are pre-generated by least square fitting to polynomial functions by the on-orbit processor. The instruments were calibrated individually while on stationary platforms, mostly in vacuum chambers. Extensive ground-based testing was performed with visible and near UV simulators mounted on a rotating platform to emulate their performance on a rotating spacecraft.
Document ID
20000040110
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Mende, S. B.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA United States)
Heetderks, H.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA United States)
Frey, H. U.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA United States)
Lampton, M.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA United States)
Geller, S. P.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA United States)
Stock, J. M.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA United States)
Abiad, R.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA United States)
Siegmund, O. H. W.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA United States)
Tremsin, A. S.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA United States)
Habraken, S.
(Liege Univ. Belgium)
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2000
Subject Category
Geophysics
Meeting Information
Meeting: Publilcation Spring AGU Meeting
Location: Washington, DC
Country: United States
Start Date: May 30, 2000
End Date: June 3, 2000
Sponsors: American Geophysical Union
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available