Ground-based airglow imaging interferometer Part 1: instrument and observation

Abstract

A ground-based airglow imaging interferometer (GBAII) is proposed to measure simultaneously the temperature and wind in the mesopause region by using airglow emissions of the O₂(0-1) band. Since it employs a wide angle Michelson interferometer with a large air gap, combined with the rotational temperature measurement, both the phase and spectral information can be obtained from the imaging results. Based on the optimization and calibrations for the optical system in the laboratory, we developed and assembled a prototype of a GBAII, and carried out one observation at the observatory of Xi'an University of Technology on 12 June 2012. The observed temperatures fall mainly on the range of 167-196 K, while both the zonal and meridional winds faintly show the feature of half-day oscillation. The consistent trends between the observation results and the standard atmospheric models suggest that the GBAII has achieved our basic design goals.