Feasibility Study for an Atmospheric Density Specification Satellite
Abstract
The purpose of the Atmospheric Density Specification (ADS) mission (AFGL-705) is to generate a coordinated and comprehensive global set of lower thermospheric state variables (density, temperature, and wind) in the altitude range 100 - 300 kilometers. This data set will be analyzed by a team of scientists including experimentalists and theoreticians to improve the performance of the density specification models of this region of the atmosphere, which currently provide density predictions to a typical accuracy of approx. 15 percent. The instrument complement of the proposed mission includes an ion/neutral mass spectrometer capable of determining absolute neutral densities to approx. 5 percent, an electrostatic triaxial accelerometer for satellite drag and cross-track wind determination, a Fabry-Perot interferometer for the determination of altitude profiles of vector winds, temperatures and composition, and an ion mass spectrometer capable of determining neutral winds and ion neutral constituent abundances. (JG)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 13, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA223291
Entities
People
- A. G. Burns
- B. C. Kennedy
- F. A. Marcos
- R. G. Roble
- T. L. Killeen
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory