Research on the temperature inversion accuracy based on spatial heterodyne interferometric spectroscopy observation in mesosphere and lower thermosphere

Abstract The O 2 A -band night glow hyperspectral detection data can be used for temperature estimation in the MLT (Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere). The SHS (Spatial Heterodyne Spectrometer), which has the characteristics of high stability, high throughput and high spectral resolution, is proposed to detect the O 2 A -band night glow. The detection simulation of O 2 A -band night glow based on spatial heterodyne interferometric spectroscopy was constructed, and the hyperspectral detection data of target airglow is obtained. The MLT temperature is retrieved from the spatial heterodyne hyperspectral detection data by using the optimal estimation algorithm. This paper focuses on investigating the impact of SHS parameters, including detector bad pixels, spectral resolution, and detection timeliness on temperature inversion accuracy. The selected detector bad pixels with rate of 1‰ only result in an accuracy loss of less than 0.1 K. Decreasing the spectral resolution from 0.8 to 12.5 cm −1 , with coarser a priori constraints, leads to an average decrease of approximately 1.2 K in temperature inversion accuracy. The combination of atmospheric profile simultaneous multi-field of view imaging technology and spatial heterodyne interferometric spectroscopy enhances timeliness in temperature detection, enabling capturing of gravity wave-induced temperature perturbations and ultimately reducing detection errors. At this point, the average atmospheric temperature inversion accuracy in the vertical field of view is about 2 K. This study validates the advantages of high spectral resolution and high timeliness of satellite-borne spatial heterodyne interferometric spectroscopy in the field of MLT temperature detection, providing a theoretical basis for instrument design.