Applications of advanced technologies to space-based Fourier transform spectrometers for atmospheric remote sensing

A design for a miniaturized high resolution Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) system for space based applications is proposed which will combine new advanced technologies and the proven advantages of the FTS to deliver a new class of remote sensing instruments with more than an order of magnitude reduction in mass, volume, power, and telemetry rate relative to existing instrumentation. For instance, the new design will have a volume of /spl sim/0.25 m/sup 3/, mass of 20-25 kg, and power of 50 watts, compared with the successful Shuttle-borne Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) FTS with /spl sim/1 m/sup 3/, 250 kg, and 200 watts. This development is founded on advances in materials for lightweight stable structures, materials with piezoelectric properties, detectors, electronics, on-board digital signal processing, and miniature, frequency-stable lasers. Together these advances address all the major elements of an FTS that dictate the instrument volume and mass and will enable the development of revolutionary instrumentation for scientific missions in space. The new FTS can operate in emission mode in the infrared region, and also in absorption mode in the infrared and visible regions, enabling wide application in variety of remote sensing of the Earth's atmosphere for the study of meteorology, atmospheric chemistry and circulation, and climate change, and planetary exploration. The design study is currently in progress under the NASA's New Millennium Program. The design concept and potential application for space programs in the years 2000 and beyond is discussed.