1 August 2011 Improved sensitivity for the atmospheric infrared sounder instrument
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
We present infrared spectrometer design options offered through a wave propagation analysis throughout the optical system that would not be known otherwise. A recent inclusion of wave propagation into the atmospheric infrared sounder (AIRS) design model to account for an unanticipated measured spectral line narrowing with wavelength has shown that a wider slit option could have been used on the spectrometer to improve energy throughput. The underlying slit image width that narrowed could have been traded for a wider entrance slit increasing the instrument light sensitivity up to 15%, restoring the original un-narrowed slit width baseline, and recovering the spectral sampling requirement of two detectors per line profile. Of the 11 slits on the AIRS spectrometer, each slit width could have been spectrally tailored to become wider as the dispersed wavelength band increased, leading to a more optimal sounder configuration. We will show the newer suggested AIRS slit array below for future sounder design consideration after first reviewing past results that substantiate the wave propagation model being used.
©(2011) Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)
Charles E. Dionne, Marcus R. Hatch, Kevin R. Maschhoff, and Kenneth R. Overoye "Improved sensitivity for the atmospheric infrared sounder instrument," Optical Engineering 50(8), 083001 (1 August 2011). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.3606498
Published: 1 August 2011
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KEYWORDS
Spectroscopy

Diffraction

Infrared radiation

Spectral resolution

Wave propagation

Sensors

Atmospheric sensing

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