Abstract:

The High Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI) is a triple etalong Fabry-Perot Interferometer designed to measure Doppler shifts of absorption and emission lines in the Earth's atmosphere. The instrument will be flown on board the Upper ATmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) in the early 1990's. The goal is to measure to vector winds in the strosphere (10 to 40 km) and mesosphere and lower thermosphere (80 to 120 km) during the day, and the mesosphere at night to an accuracy of 5 m/s. In addition to winds, the instrument will also determine temperatures, cloud top heights, and some aerosol properties. This paper breifly describes the HRDI instument, the wind measurement concept, and the operation scenario.