Evaluation of UV optics for triple tiny ionospheric photometers on CubeSat missions

Andrew W. Stephan; Peter J. Marquis; Scott A. Budzien; Kenneth F. Dymond; Charles M. Brown; Kenneth D. Wolfram; Andrew C. Nicholas

doi:10.1117/12.2321042

18 September 2018 Evaluation of UV optics for triple tiny ionospheric photometers on CubeSat missions

Andrew W. Stephan, Peter J. Marquis, Scott A. Budzien, Kenneth F. Dymond, Charles M. Brown, Kenneth D. Wolfram, Andrew C. Nicholas

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 10769, CubeSats and NanoSats for Remote Sensing II; 107690W (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2321042
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2018, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

We have developed the Triple Tiny Ionospheric Photometer (Tri-TIP) as a CubeSat-compatible 1U sensor to obtain high-sensitivity measurements of the far-ultraviolet (FUV) OI 1356 Å airglow for remote sensing of ionospheric density. The Tri-TIP concept evolved from heritage sensors flown on the COSMIC/FORMOSAT-3 (CF3) constellation, and more recently as part of the GPS and Radio Occultation and UV Photometry – Colocated (GROUP-C) experiment on the International Space Station. The concept for all of these sensors is to isolate this emission using heated strontium-fluoride filters to eliminate shorter wavelength emissions such as O I 1304 Å and H I 1216 Å and cesium iodide photocathodes to reduce sensitivity longward of ~1800 Å. There are no other spectral features in this FUV portion of the airglow spectrum at night. However, the nadir-viewing sensors on CF3 observed significant long-wavelength emissions from city lights and moonlit clouds that contaminated the data. The GROUP-C instrument included a sapphire filter that could be alternated with the strontium fluoride to measure and remove this spectral “red leak” from the observations. The Tri-TIP design pairs a heated strontium fluoride filter in line with a sapphire beam splitter that feeds the UV (with spectral leak) and long-wavelength (spectral leak only) signals to two matched photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). A third PMT monitors the signal contribution from high-energy particles and dark current. We present the results from laboratory tests of these components that ensure the high-sensitivity performance of this new optical configuration for ionospheric remote sensing and imaging from a CubeSat platform.

Citation Download Citation

Andrew W. Stephan, Peter J. Marquis, Scott A. Budzien, Kenneth F. Dymond, Charles M. Brown, Kenneth D. Wolfram, and Andrew C. Nicholas "Evaluation of UV optics for triple tiny ionospheric photometers on CubeSat missions", Proc. SPIE 10769, CubeSats and NanoSats for Remote Sensing II, 107690W (18 September 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2321042

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