High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder Post Launch Operation

HIRDLS是美国宇航局2004年7月发射到近极地地球轨道的Aura卫星上的四个远程探测仪器之一。HIRDLS观察地球的边缘（地平线），通过测量大气层在上下扫描时发出的红外辐射，它提供的数据随后用于得出大气物种（如臭氧和硝酸）的垂直分布，以及温度和云/气溶胶的数量，所有这些垂直分辨率都在1.0至1.5公里之间，这比以前好得多。大约每15秒测量一次剖面，这意味着地球的大部分地区每天都被覆盖。HIRDLS在发射过程中遇到了一个问题，一块保护塑料薄膜撕裂并移动到光束的路径上，尽管扫描镜多次尝试将其移除，但它仍然留在那里。这推迟了科学数据采集的开始，使用剩余的无阻碍视图，直到2005年1月，并且需要广泛的研究和开发校正技术，加上新软件的编码、新的机载扫描序列和特殊的飞行测试。数据产品验证因此被推迟，但是常规生产将在2006年末开始。除了这个问题，该仪器工作非常好，并持续提供高质量的测量。HIRDLS由英美财团设计、建造和测试，并由各自国家的NASA和NERC资助。该联盟还负责数据分析、数据产品验证、飞行操作和英国数据传播，这项工作目前正在牛津大学、CCLRC卢瑟福阿普尔顿实验室、科罗拉多大学和美国国家大气研究中心进行。英国最初的资助计划延长至启动后18个月。这是可以延长的，这个应用程序涵盖了名义寿命的最后三年，直到2010年7月。这笔资金支持牛津大学的几个领域的工作，即：飞行操作和仪器监测、校准分析、地面数据处理算法和数据验证，以及数据处理和支持这些活动所需的所有设施。这笔赠款将资助卢瑟福阿普尔顿实验室进行验证活动，并通过英国大气数据中心传播和存档数据。建议的验证工作包括将仪器辐射数据以及HIRDLS的地球物理产品（例如温度、臭氧和其他物种的剖面）与独立的测量和数据集进行比较。英国科学界对此表现出了相当大的兴趣，特别是HIRDLS数据产品套件与其他Aura仪器测量的数据产品相辅相成，因此它们共同形成了一个重要的新数据源。

HIRDLS is one of four remote sounding instruments on the NASA Aura satellite which was launched into a near polar Earth orbit in July 2004. HIRDLS views the limb (horizon) of the earth, and by measuring the infra red radiation emitted by the atmosphere as the view scans up and down, it provides data which are then used to derive the vertical distributions of atmospheric species such as ozone and nitric acid, plus temperature and cloud/aerosol amounts, all at a vertical resolution of 1.0 to 1.5 km which is considerably better than previously. A profile is measured about every 15 secs which means that most of the Earth is covered every day. HIRDLS suffered a problem during launch, when a piece of protective plastic film tore and moved into the path of the optical beam, where it remains despite extensive attempts to dislodge it with the scan mirror. This delayed the start of scientific data acquisition, using the unobstructed view remaining, until January 2005, and necessitated extensive research and development of correction techniques, plus coding of new software, new onboard scanning sequences, and special in-flight tests. The data product validation was consequently delayed, but regular production is due to begin in late 2006. Apart from this problem, the instrument is working very well and delivering high quality measurements continuously. HIRDLS was designed, built and tested by a UK-US consortium, and funded by NASA and NERC in their respective countries. The consortium is also responsible for data analysis, data product validation, flight operations and UK data dissemination, the work now being conducted at Oxford University, the CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, the University of Colorado and the US National Center for Atmospheric Research. The original UK funding was planned to extend until 18 months after launch. It was possible to stretch that, and this application covers the final three years of nominal life until July 2010. The funding supports several areas of work at Oxford University, namely: flight operations and instrument monitoring, calibration analysis, ground data processing algorithms, and data validation, together with the data handling and all the facilites needed to support these activities. The grant would fund the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory to undertake validation activities, and disseminate and archive the data via the British Atmospheric Data Centre. The validation work proposed includes comparison of instrument radiance data as well as HIRDLS geophysical products (e.g. profiles of temperature, ozone and other species) with independent measurements and data sets. Considerable interest has been shown by the UK scientific community, especially as the HIRDLS suite of data products is complementary to those measured by the other Aura instruments, so that together they form an important new data source.