Observations of thermospheric wind velocities and temperatures by the use of a Fabry–Perot Doppler imaging system at Syowa Station, Antarctica

Abstract

A new optical instrument, the Fabry-Perot Doppler imaging system (FPDIS), has been developed for observations of two-dimensional distributions of thermospheric wind velocities and temperatures by the measurement of the Doppler shift and width of the aurora or of the airglow emission lines of atomic oxygen OI 557.7 nm and OI 630.0 nm over a wide field of view (165°). A technique for the derivation of Doppler temperatures and wind velocities was developed by use of a truncated Fourier series. Thermospheric wind velocities and temperatures have been obtained with unprecedented high temporal (1 min) and spatial (24 points for an all-sky image) resolutions. Errors in the derived wind velocities and temperatures are estimated to be less than 25 m/s and 100 K, respectively, for inner-fringe positions and 35 m/s and 170 K for outer-fringe positions, respectively. This system was applied to observations of thermospheric wind velocities and temperatures at Syowa Station (69.00° S, 39.58° E), Antarctica for the period of one austral winter in 1990.