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Research activities on the following topics were summarized: (1) software for the Space Plasma computer Analysis Network (SPAN), (2) plasmaspheric field-aligned temperature gradients, (3) the shift in spacecraft potential as a function of plasma density, (4) plasma flow, (5) the Fabry-Perot interferometer, and (6) the Differential Ion Flux Probe (DIFP).
Data from the Fabry-Perot interferometer on board the Dynamics Explorer-B satellite is used to show that the contaminant glow observed by Yee and Abreu at 7320A on the AE satellites is produced by emission lines of one or more species. A comparison is made of the contaminant spectrum near 7320A with the nightglow OH spectrum measured below 155km. Evidence is presented to the effect that OH might be one of the metastable species producing the glow.
The measurements reported were made of the O(1S) emission line profile at 5577 A at high spectral resolution with the Fabry-Perot interferometer on the Dynamics Explorer spacecraft. It is found that the line profile has marked nonthermal characteristics in the nightglow. A simple collisional relaxation model is used to analyze the nighttime emission line profiles, measured in the equatorial region. The branching ratio is inferred for the dissociative recombination of O2(+) leading to O(1S). The result reveals that the O(1S) + O(1D) channel is favored over the O(1S). The result reveals that the O(1S) + O(1D) channel is favored over the O(1S) + O(3P) channel by a factor of 4; this does not agree with the ratio reported by Hernandez (1971). It is noted, however, that the result is consistent with the active channel for O(1S) production being via the 1Sigma u + repulsive state of O2, as suggested by the theoretical calculations of Guberman (1983). In addition, a value is obtained for the excitation exchange cross section for O(1S).
There are many possible observing strategies available for mapping the thermospheric wind field by using observations of the Doppler shift of the O (1D) airglow with a Fabry-Perot interferometer. The determination of the neutral wind field from observed line-of-sight velocities invariably involves some assumptions about the nature of the wind field. A standard method of observing employs the assumption that horizontal gradients in the wind field are linear. An analysis of measurements from Arecibo, Puerto Rico, that makes use of this assumption, is discussed. For work at high latitudes this assumption may be unrealistic. An alternative approach that requires that local time and longitude be interchangeable but eschews the assumption of linear gradients has been developed and used at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Calgary, Alberta. These different techniques are examined, and the discussion is illustrated with some typical results.
The dynamics of the polar thermosphere are examined by using observations made from the Dynamics Explorer 2 satellite. The results used in this study were obtained primarily from the Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) and the wind and temperature spectrometer (WATS) during the time period from September 1981 through January 1982. Two primary geophysical conditions were examined: these were the southern summer and the northern winter polar regions. The results support the conclusion that above 60 degrees of latitude the neutral winds are strongly controlled by ion/neutral frictional momentum transfer resulting from magnetospheric convection. This implies that the natural coordinate system within which to display the neutral winds in the high polar thermosphere is magnetic. The collected observations of this study were used to assess the validity of two of the large thermospheric general circulation models. The result of this assessment was that the models reasonably represent the vector winds at high altitudes but do not, at present, accurately simulate the thermodynamics of that regime.
Theoretical predictions of thermospheric gravity wave oscillations are compared with observed neutral temperatures and velocities. The data were taken in February 1983 using a Fabry-Perot interferometer located on Greenland, close to impulse heat sources in the auroral oval. The phenomenon was modeled in terms of linearized equations of motion of the atmosphere on a slowly rotating sphere. Legendre polynomials were used as eigenfunctions and the transfer function amplitude surface was characterized by maxima in the wavenumber frequency plane. Good agreement for predicted and observed velocities and temperatures was attained in the 250-300 km altitude. The amplitude of the vertical velocity, however, was not accurately predicted, nor was the temperature variability. The vertical velocity did exhibit maxima and minima in response to corresponding temperature changes.
Two systems were described. The first used polarization to reduce scattered solar flux, the principal source of noise. The second used a narrowband detector and a different excitation wavelength. The results, which consider these systems, were presented emphasizing anticipated technology improvements because the analysis for each system required estimates of critical parameter even though each system would use existing technology. For the first, the information about the degree of polarization of the scattered solar flux was not measured but was estimated as 60 percent for viewing straight up with a solar zenith angle of 75 percent at sea level. The expected performance of this system therefore depends on the reliability of this estimate. For the second system, two estimates were required. First, the expected throughput of a Fabry-Perot interferometer operating at 309 nm, based on the performance exhibited by similar instruments working at other wavelengths, was estimated to be 3 percent. Second, the fluorescence efficiency of the proposed OH lines was estimated as 0.00004, since these quantities were not measured to date.
Measurement of velocity of light - use of interferometer
Magnetostrictively scanned interferometer for airborne recording of coronal temperatures during solar eclipse
Modified Al-dielectric-Al Fabry-Perot interference filter for isolating Hg 1849 angstrom emission line from Hg 2536 angstrom line
Optical determination of temperature variations throughout solar corona during eclipse of May 30, 1965
Isotope shift measurement for 6328 angstroms helium-neon laser transition
Tunable coupling of open waveguide type for semiconfocal Fabry-Perot cavity gives high transmission and high Q
The High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) system was developed for the remote measurement of atmospheric optical properties. Measurements are obtained by the separation of the backscattered signal into aerosol and molecular channels using a high spectral resolution Fabry-Perot optical interferometer to separate the aerosol contributions to backscatter near the laser wavelength from the Doppler-shifted molecular component of the backscatter. The transmitter consists of an optically pumped pulsed dye laser of the oscillator-amplifier design which emits at 467.88 nm, with a bandwidth of less than 0.3 pm. The transmitter and receiver share a common Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, although they do not share the same field stop, but rather two conjugate stops. The HSRL system uses a computer-controlled dual-channel photon-counting data acquisition system providing for stable measurements at very low power levels and an excellent dynamic range. The system has been used to obtain airborne measurements of height profiles of aerosol and molecular backscatter cross sections.
A high spectral resolution lidar technique to measure optical scattering properties of atmospheric aerosols is described. Light backscattered by the atmosphere from a narrowband optically pumped oscillator-amplifier dye laser is separated into its Doppler broadened molecular and elastically scattered aerosol components by a two-channel Fabry-Perot polyetalon interferometer. Aerosol optical properties, such as the backscatter ratio, optical depth, extinction cross section, scattering cross section, and the backscatter phase function, are derived from the two-channel measurements.
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Description of an oscillating magnetic analyzer (KDP crystal plus Glan-Thompson prism) coupled to an echelle-interferometer spectrograph, and of single-slit magnetometer which by pressure variations can be made to scan the entire profiles of the circularly and linearly polarized Zeeman components. Freon gas is used as the scanner gas with wavelength displacements of 0.02 A per 0.1 in. Hg pressure change at the NaD lines. The available scan range is 15 A in the visual spectral region.