A 4 U laser heterodyne radiometer for methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) measurements from an occultation-viewing CubeSat

Published 2017

AJ DiGregorio Science Systems and Applications, Incorporated, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

DOI: 10.1088/1361-6501/aa5440

Abstract:

We present a design for a 4 U (20 cm× 20 cm× 10 cm) occultation-viewing laser heterodyne radiometer (LHR) that measures methane (CH 4), carbon dioxide (CO 2) and water vapor (H 2 O) in the limb that is designed for deployment on a 6 U CubeSat. The LHR design collects sunlight that has undergone absorption by the trace gas and mixes it with a distributive feedback (DFB) laser centered at 1640 nm that scans across CO 2, CH 4, and H 2 O absorption features. Upper troposphere/lower stratosphere measurements of these gases...

Excerpt:

Collected sunlight is modulated with a fibre optic switch (CrystaLatch, Agiltron part CLSW- 115231323) at 500 Hz...