Spectrometer for Sky-Scanning Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research (4STAR): Instrument Technology

Remote Sensing

Stephen E. Dunagan⁴  Roy Johnson⁴  Jhony Zavaleta⁴  Philip B. Russell⁴  Beat Schmid¹  Connor Flynn¹  Jens Redemann⁴  Yohei Shinozuka²  John Livingston³ 

[1] Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99325, USA; E-Mails:;The Ames Cooperative for Research in Earth Science and Technology (ARC-CREST), NASA, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA; E-Mail:;SRI International, 333 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA; E-Mail:;Ames Research Center, NASA, MS 245-4, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA; E-Mails:

关键词: atmosphere;    climate;    pollution;    radiometry;    technology;    hyperspectral;    fiber optic;   

DOI  :  10.3390/rs5083872

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The Spectrometer for Sky-Scanning, Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research (4STAR) combines airborne sun tracking and sky scanning with diffraction spectroscopy to improve knowledge of atmospheric constituents and their links to air-pollution/climate. Direct beam hyper-spectral measurement of optical depth improves retrievals of gas constituents and determination of aerosol properties. Sky scanning enhances retrievals of aerosol type and size distribution. 4STAR measurements will tighten the closure between satellite and ground-based measurements. 4STAR incorporates a modular sun-tracking/sky-scanning optical head with fiber optic signal transmission to rack mounted spectrometers, permitting miniaturization of the external optical head, and future detector evolution. Technical challenges include compact optical collector design, radiometric dynamic range and stability, and broad spectral coverage. Test results establishing the performance of the instrument against the full range of operational requirements are presented, along with calibration, engineering flight test, and scientific field campaign data and results.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland