Title of Presentation: Geostationary Imaging Fabry-Perot Spectrometer (GIFS)
Primary (Corresponding) Author: Jeng-Hwa Yee
Organization of Primary Author:
Co-Authors: M. Frank Morgan, R. DeMajistre, Elsayed R. Talaat, James F. Garten, William H. Swartz, W.R. Skinner
Abstract: Long-term measurements of the global distribution of clouds and the surface reflectance are needed to provide inputs to climatological models for global change studies. The Geostationary Imaging Fabry-Perot Spectrometer (GIFS) instrument is a next-generation satellite instrument concept, to be deployed on a geostationary satellite for continuous hemispheric imaging of cloud properties, including cloud top pressure, optical depth, fraction, and surface reflectance. GIFS uses an innovative tunable triple-etalon imaging Fabry-Perot interferometer to obtain images of high-resolution spectral line shapes of two O2 B-band lines in the backscattered solar radiation. Cloud properties are derived from pressure broadening information embedded in the absorption line shapes. A GIFS prototype is currently being fabricated, with support from the Instrument Incubator Program. We plan an aircraft test flight in early 2008. We will describe the GIFS instrument design and expected performance, and discuss plans for laboratory and flight instrument tests.