SPIE ProceedingsSpace-borne imager of mesospheric gravity waves

Mesospheric gravity waves play important roles in atmospheric circulation and variability. It is meaningful to obtain the features of the mesospheric gravity waves on a global scale, such as the distribution and the sources. However, limited by the field of view, the ground-based instrument can only access some local information. We developed a space-borne imager to observe the global gravity waves by collecting the O2 airglow with TDI (Time Delayed and Integration) method. The function of the imager was testified in our laboratory with a led screen, where the gravity waves were simulated and shown. On a satellite orbit with the altitude of 700 km and inclination of 73 degree, the imager can obtain the gravity waves with horizontal wavelength more than 10 km, even taking the effect induced by the earth rotation into account. \textcopyright (2015) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.