Abstract
The far-infrared spectroscopy of the troposphere (FIRST) instrument is a Fourier transform spectrometer developed to measure the Earth’s thermal emission spectrum with a particular emphasis on far-infrared (far-IR) wavelengths greater than 15 μm. FIRST was developed under NASA’s Instrument Incubator Program to demonstrate technology for providing measurements from 10 to 100 μm (1000 to ) on a single focal plane with a spectral resolution finer than . Presently no spectrometers in orbit are capable of directly observing the Earth’s far-IR spectrum. This fact, coupled with the fundamental importance of the far-IR to Earth’s climate system, provided the impetus for the development of FIRST. In this paper the FIRST instrument is described and results of a detailed absolute laboratory calibration are presented. Specific channels in FIRST are shown to be accurate in the far-IR to better than 0.3 K at 270 K scene temperature, 0.5 K at 247 K, and 1 K at 225 K.
© 2013 Optical Society of America
Full Article | PDF ArticleMore Like This
Harri Latvakoski, Martin G. Mlynczak, Richard P. Cageao, David G. Johnson, and David P. Kratz
Appl. Opt. 53(24) 5425-5433 (2014)
Carmine Serio, Francesco Esposito, Guido Masiello, Giulia Pavese, Maria R. Calvello, Giuseppe Grieco, Vincenzo Cuomo, Henry L. Buijs, and Claude B. Roy
Appl. Opt. 47(21) 3909-3919 (2008)
Yao Té, Pascal Jeseck, Claude Camy-Peyret, Sébastien Payan, Gaetan Perron, and Ginette Aubertin
Appl. Opt. 41(30) 6431-6441 (2002)