title: Tunable acousto-optic spectral imager for atmospheric composition measurements in the visible spectral domain.
abstract: We describe a new spectral imaging instrument using a TeO(2) acousto-optical tunable filter (AOTF) operating in the visible domain (450-900 nm). It allows for fast (~1 second), monochromatic (FWHM ranges from 0.6 nm at 450 nm to 3.5 nm at 800 nm) picture acquisition with good spatial resolution. This instrument was designed as a breadboard of the visible channel of a new satellite-borne atmospheric limb spectral imager, named the Atmospheric Limb Tracker for the Investigation of the Upcoming Stratosphere (ALTIUS), that is currently being developed. We tested its remote sensing capabilities by observing the dense, turbulent plume exhausted by a waste incinerator stack at two wavelengths sensitive to NO(2). An average value of 6.0±0.4×10(17) molecules cm(-2) has been obtained for the NO(2) slant column density within the plume, close to the stack outlet. Although this result was obtained with a rather low accuracy, it demonstrates the potential of spectral imaging by using AOTFs in remote sensing.
authors.affiliation: Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), 3 avenue Circulaire, 1180 Brussels, Belgium. emmanuel.dekemper@aeronomie.be
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dekemper
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Loodts
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Van Opstal
authors.forename: Jeroen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maes
authors.forename: Filip
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vanhellemont
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mateshvili
authors.forename: Ghislain
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Franssens
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pieroux
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bingen
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Robert
authors.forename: Lieve
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Vos
authors.forename: Ludovic
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aballea
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fussen