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Roy W. Esplin

Bio: Roy W. Esplin is an academic researcher from Utah State University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Spectrometer & Telescope. The author has an hindex of 6, co-authored 36 publications receiving 711 citations.

Papers
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Proceedings ArticleDOI
20 Oct 1999
TL;DR: The Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) experiment is one of four experiments that will fly on the TIMED mission to be launched in May 2000.
Abstract: The Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) experiment is one of four experiments that will fly on the Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics, and Dynamics (TIMED) mission to be launched in May 2000. The primary science goal of SABER is to achieve major advances in understanding the structure, energetics, chemistry, and dynamics, in the atmospheric region extending from 60 km to 180 km altitude. This will be accomplished using the space flight proven experiment approach of spectral broadband limb emission radiometry. SABER will scan the horizon in 10 selected bands ranging from 1.27 micrometer to 17 micrometer wavelength. The observed vertical horizon emission profiles will be processed on the ground to provide vertical profiles with 2 km altitude resolution, of temperature, O3, H2O, and CO2; volume emission rates due to O2(1(Delta) ), OH((upsilon) equals 3,4,5), OH((upsilon) equals 7,8,9), and NO; key atmospheric cooling rates, solar heating rates, chemical heating rates, airglow losses; geostrophic winds, atomic oxygen and atomic hydrogen. Measurements will be made both night and day over the latitude range from the southern to northern polar regions. The SABER instrument uses an on-axis Cassegrain design with a clam shell reimager. Preliminary test and calibration results show excellent radiometric performance.

608 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The AMTM is a novel infrared digital imaging system that measures selected emission lines in the mesospheric OH (3,1) band to create intensity and temperature maps of the mesosphere around 87 km, allowing detailed measurements of wave propagation and dissipation at the ∼87 km level, even in the presence of strong aurora or under full moon conditions.
Abstract: Over the past 60 years, ground-based remote sensing measurements of the Earth’s mesospheric temperature have been performed using the nighttime hydroxyl (OH) emission, which originates at an altitude of ∼87 km. Several types of instruments have been employed to date: spectrometers, Fabry–Perot or Michelson interferometers, scanning-radiometers, and more recently temperature mappers. Most of them measure the mesospheric temperature in a few sample directions and/or with a limited temporal resolution, restricting their research capabilities to the investigation of larger-scale perturbations such as inertial waves, tides, or planetary waves. The Advanced Mesospheric Temperature Mapper (AMTM) is a novel infrared digital imaging system that measures selected emission lines in the mesospheric OH (3,1) band (at ∼1.5 μm) to create intensity and temperature maps of the mesosphere around 87 km. The data are obtained with an unprecedented spatial (∼0.5 km) and temporal (typically 30″) resolution over a large 120° field of view, allowing detailed measurements of wave propagation and dissipation at the ∼87 km level, even in the presence of strong aurora or under full moon conditions. This paper describes the AMTM characteristics, compares measured temperatures with values obtained by a collocated Na lidar instrument, and presents several examples of temperature maps and nightly keogram representations to illustrate the excellent capabilities of this new instrument.

73 citations

Proceedings ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The GIFTS measurement requirements and the technology utilized by the GIFTS sensor to provide the required system performance are discussed and preliminary results from the recently completed calibration are presented.
Abstract: The Geosynchronous Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer (GIFTS) was developed for the NASA New Millennium Program (NMP) Earth Observing-3 (EO-3) mission. This paper discusses the GIFTS measurement requirements and the technology utilized by the GIFTS sensor to provide the required system performance. Also presented are preliminary results from the recently completed calibration of the instrument. The GIFTS NMP mission challenge was to demonstrate new and emerging sensor and data processing technologies to make revolutionary improvements in meteorological observational capability and forecasting accuracy using atmospheric imaging and hyperspectral sounding methods. The GIFTS sensor is an imaging FTS with programmable spectral resolution and spatial scene selection, allowing radiometric accuracy and atmospheric sounding precision to be traded in near-real time for area coverage. System sensitivity is achieved through the use of a cryogenic Michelson interferometer and two large-area, IR focal plane detector arrays. Due to funding limitations, the GIFTS sensor module was completed as an engineering demonstration unit, which can be upgraded for flight qualification. Capability to meet the next generation geosynchronous sounding requirements has been successfully demonstrated through thermal vacuum testing and rigorous IR calibration activities.

25 citations

Proceedings ArticleDOI
29 Sep 1995
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe a 10-channel infrared (1.27 to 16.9 micrometers ) radiometer instrument known as SABER (sounding of the atmosphere using broadband emission radiometry) that will measure earth-limb emissions from the TIMED (thermosphere ionosphere-mesosphere energetics and dynamics) satellite.
Abstract: This paper describes the design of a 10-channel infrared (1.27 to 16.9 micrometers ) radiometer instrument known as SABER (sounding of the atmosphere using broadband emission radiometry) that will measure earth-limb emissions from the TIMED (thermosphere- ionosphere-mesosphere energetics and dynamics) satellite. The instrument telescope, designed to reject stray light from the earth and the atmosphere, is an on-axis Cassegrain design with a clam shell reimager and a one-axis scan mirror. The telescope is cooled below 210 K by a dedicated radiator. The focal plane assembly (consisting of a filter array, a detector array, a Lyot stop, and a window) is cooled to 75 K by a miniature cryogenic refrigerator. The conductive heat load on the refrigerator is minimized by a Kevlar support system that thermally isolates the focal plane assembly from the telescope. Kevlar is also used to thermally isolate the telescope from the spacecraft. Instrument responsivity drifts due to changes in telescope and focal plane temperatures as well as other causes are neutralized by an in-flight calibration system. The detector array consists of discrete HgCdTe, InSb, and InGaAs detectors. Two InGaAs detectors are a new long wavelength type, made by EG&G, that have a long wavelength cutoff of 2.33 micrometers at 77 K.

12 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, an analysis of SABER and Global Positioning System Radio Occultation (GPS-RO) measurements of atmospheric refraction is presented, showing that the SABBER instrument is remarkably stable, better than 0.1 to 0.2 K per decade.
Abstract: The SABER instrument on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Thermosphere‐Ionosphere‐Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics satellite continues to provide a long‐term record of Earth's stratosphere, mesosphere, and lower thermosphere. The SABER data are being used to examine long‐term changes and trends in temperature, water vapor, and carbon dioxide. A tacit, central assumption of these analyses is that the SABER instrument radiometric calibration is not changing with time; that is, the instrument is stable. SABER stratospheric temperatures and those derived fromGlobal Positioning System Radio Occultation measurements are compared to examine SABER's stability. Global Positioning System Radio Occultation measurements are inherently stable due to the accuracy and traceability of the measured phase delay rate to the Système Internationale definition of the second. Differences in global annual mean SABER and COSMIC lower stratospheric temperatures show little significant change with time in the 11 years spanning 2007–2017. From this analysis we infer that SABER temperatures are stable to better than 0.1 to 0.2 K per decade. Plain Language Summary SABER is an instrument that has been in orbit on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Thermosphere‐Ionosphere‐Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics satellite for over 18 years, observing temperature and composition of the atmosphere from 15 to over 100 km in altitude. Over this time the atmosphere has undergone changes. A key to diagnosing these changes is knowing that the SABER instrument itself has not been changing and so observed atmospheric changes are in fact real. This paper presents an analysis of SABER temperatures in the Earth's lower stratosphere (15‐ to 35‐km altitude) relative to those derived from Global Positioning System‐Radio Occultation (GPS‐RO) measurements of atmospheric refraction. The GPS‐RO temperatures are inherently stable due to their traceability to the definition of the second. The analysis of SABER and GPS‐RO temperatures shows that the SABER instrument is remarkably stable, better than 0.1 to 0.2 K per decade.

11 citations


Cited by
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Proceedings ArticleDOI
20 Oct 1999
TL;DR: The Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) experiment is one of four experiments that will fly on the TIMED mission to be launched in May 2000.
Abstract: The Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) experiment is one of four experiments that will fly on the Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics, and Dynamics (TIMED) mission to be launched in May 2000. The primary science goal of SABER is to achieve major advances in understanding the structure, energetics, chemistry, and dynamics, in the atmospheric region extending from 60 km to 180 km altitude. This will be accomplished using the space flight proven experiment approach of spectral broadband limb emission radiometry. SABER will scan the horizon in 10 selected bands ranging from 1.27 micrometer to 17 micrometer wavelength. The observed vertical horizon emission profiles will be processed on the ground to provide vertical profiles with 2 km altitude resolution, of temperature, O3, H2O, and CO2; volume emission rates due to O2(1(Delta) ), OH((upsilon) equals 3,4,5), OH((upsilon) equals 7,8,9), and NO; key atmospheric cooling rates, solar heating rates, chemical heating rates, airglow losses; geostrophic winds, atomic oxygen and atomic hydrogen. Measurements will be made both night and day over the latitude range from the southern to northern polar regions. The SABER instrument uses an on-axis Cassegrain design with a clam shell reimager. Preliminary test and calibration results show excellent radiometric performance.

608 citations

Proceedings ArticleDOI
05 Apr 2000
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a survey of available tunable filters, system design considerations, general analysis techniques for retrieving the intrinsic scene properties from the measurements, and applications and examples.
Abstract: Major spin-offs from NASA's multi- and hyper spectral imaging remote sensing technology developed for Earth resources monitoring, are creative techniques that combine and integrate spectral with spatial methods. Such techniques are finding use in medicine, agriculture, manufacturing, forensics, and an e er expanding list of other applications. Many such applications are easier to implement using a sensor design different from the pushbroom or whiskbroom air- or space-borne counterparts. This need is met by using a variety of electronically tunable filters that are mounted in front of a monochrome camera to produce a stack of images at a sequence of wavelengths, forming the familiar 'image cube'. The combined spectral/spatial analysis offered by such image cubes takes advantage of tools borrowed form spatial image processing, chemometrics and specifically spectroscopy, and new custom exploitation tools developed specifically for these applications. Imaging spectroscopy is particularly useful for non homogeneous samples or scenes. examples include spatial classification based on spectral signatures, use of spectral libraries for material identification, mixture composition analysis, plume detection, etc. This paper reviews available tunable filters ,system design considerations, general analysis techniques for retrieving the intrinsic scene properties from the measurements, and applications and examples.

599 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the quality of the retrieved temperature-versus-pressure (or T(p)) profiles is described for the middle atmosphere for the publicly available Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) Version 1.07 (V1.07) data set.
Abstract: The quality of the retrieved temperature-versus-pressure (or T(p)) profiles is described for the middle atmosphere for the publicly available Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) Version 1.07 (V1.07) data set. The primary sources of systematic error for the SABER results below about 70 km are (1) errors in the measured radiances, (2) biases in the forward model, and (3) uncertainties in the corrections for ozone and in the determination of the reference pressure for the retrieved profiles. Comparisons with other correlative data sets indicate that SABER T(p) is too high by 1-3 K in the lower stratosphere but then too low by 1 K near the stratopause and by 2 K in the middle mesosphere. There is little difference between the local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) algorithm results below about 70 km from V1.07 and V1.06, but there are substantial improvements/differences for the non-LTE results of V1.07 for the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere (UMLT) region. In particular, the V1.07 algorithm uses monthly, diurnally averaged CO2 profiles versus latitude from the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model. This change has improved the consistency of the character of the tides in its kinetic temperature (T(sub k)). The T(sub k) profiles agree with UMLT values obtained from ground-based measurements of column-averaged OH and O2 emissions and of the Na lidar returns, at least within their mutual uncertainties. SABER T(sub k) values obtained near the mesopause with its daytime algorithm also agree well with the falling sphere climatology at high northern latitudes in summer. It is concluded that the SABER data set can be the basis for improved, diurnal-to-interannual-scale temperatures for the middle atmosphere and especially for its UMLT region.

386 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Global Ultraviolet Imager (GUVI) was used by the NASA TIMED satellite to measure the spectral radiance of the Earth's far ultraviolet airglow in the spectral region from 120 to 180 nm using a cross-track scanning spectrometer design as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: [1] The Global Ultraviolet Imager (GUVI) instrument carried aboard the NASA TIMED satellite measures the spectral radiance of the Earth’s far ultraviolet airglow in the spectral region from 120 to 180 nm using a cross-track scanning spectrometer design. Continuous operation of the instrument provides images of the Earth’s disk and limb in five selectable spectral bands. Also, spectra at fixed scanning mirror position can be obtained. Initial results demonstrate the quantitative functionality of the instrument for studies of the Earth’s dayglow, aurora, and ionosphere. Moreover, through forward modeling, the abundance of the major constituents of the thermosphere, O, N2, and O2 and thermospheric temperatures can be retrieved from observations of the limb radiance. Variations of the column O/N2 ratio can be deduced from sunlit disk observations. In regions of auroral precipitation not only can the aurora regions be geographically located and the auroral boundaries identified, but also the energy flux Q, the characteristic energy Eo, and a parameter fo that scales the abundance of neutral atomic oxygen can be derived. Radiance due to radiative recombination in the ionospheric F region is evident from both dayside and nightside observations of the Earth’s limb and disk, respectively. Regions of depleted F-region electron density are evident in the tropical Appleton anomaly regions, associated with so-called ionospheric ‘‘bubbles.’’ Access to the GUVI data is provided through the GUVI website www.timed.jhuapl.edu\guvi. INDEX TERMS: 0310 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Airglow and aurora; 0355 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Thermosphere—composition and chemistry; 0358 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Thermosphere—energy deposition; 2407 Ionosphere: Auroral ionosphere (2704); KEYWORDS: airglow, aurora, ultraviolet, imaging, satellite, atmosphere

342 citations