The Michelson Interferometer for Global High-resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI) is a satellite experiment scheduled to launch on NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) in 2018. MIGHTI is designed to measure horizontal neutral winds and neutral temperatures in the terrestrial thermosphere. Temperatures will be inferred by imaging the molecular oxygen Atmospheric band (A band) on the limb in the lower thermosphere. MIGHTI will measure the spectral shape of the A band using discrete wavelength channels to infer the ambient temperature from the rotational envelope of the band. Here we present simulated temperature retrievals based on the as-built characteristics of the instrument and the expected emission rate profile of the A band for typical daytime and nighttime conditions. We find that for a spherically symmetric atmosphere, the measurement precision is 1 K between 90–105 km during the daytime whereas during the nighttime it increases from 1 K at 90 km to 3 K at 105 km. We also find that the accuracy is 2 K to 11 K for the same altitudes. The expected MIGHTI temperature precision is within the measurement requirements for the ICON mission.

中文翻译：

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从 O2 A 波段发射反演较低热层温度：ICON 上的 MIGHTI 实验


全球高分辨率热层成像迈克尔逊干涉仪 (MIGHTI) 是一项卫星实验，计划于 2018 年在 NASA 的电离层连接探测器 (ICON) 上发射。MIGHTI 旨在测量陆地热层中的水平中性风和中性温度。将通过对较低热层边缘的分子氧大气带（A 带）进行成像来推断温度。 MIGHTI 将使用离散波长通道测量 A 波段的光谱形状，以根据该波段的旋转包络推断环境温度。在这里，我们根据仪器的竣工特性以及典型白天和夜间条件下 A 波段的预期发射率曲线来呈现模拟温度检索。我们发现，对于球对称大气，白天90-105 km之间的测量精度为1 K，而夜间则从90 km处的1 K增加到105 km处的3 K。我们还发现，相同海拔高度的精度为 2 K 到 11 K。预期的 MIGHTI 温度精度符合 ICON 任务的测量要求。