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Visible Airglow Photometer (VAE)

ResourceID
spase://SMWG/Instrument/AE-D/VAE

Description

The visible airglow experiment provided volume emission rates for several dayglow,
nightglow, and auroral optical emission features. A photometer containing two separate optical channels
was used. Spectral selection was accomplished with a common filter wheel that contained six interference
filters and a dark and calibrate position. The wavelengths measured in pairs (in Angstroms) were 7319
and 4861, 5200 and dark, 5577 and 7319, 4278 and 5200, 6300 and 5577, calibration and 4278, and 4861
and 6300. The two channels were separated in angle by 90 deg. One channel had a large field of view
(3 deg half-angle) for high sensitivity, normally pointing toward the local zenith, and the second
channel had a small field of view (0.75 deg half-angle) for high spatial resolution, pointing tangent
to the surface of the earth when the satellite was in the despun mode. Both channels were protected from
stray light contamination during daytime by multistage baffle systems. Photons that had been spectrally
and spatially selected were sensed by a pulse-counting photomultiplier system capable of counting at a
rate of 5.E6 counts/s. The filters could be operated in several modes, e.g., fixed filter, and
automatic filter changes could be synchronized either to satellite orientation or to a fixed-time
base. More experiment details can be found in P. B. Hays et al., Radio Sci., v. 8, n. 4, p. 369, 1973.
NSSDC has all the useful data that exist from this investigation.

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Details

Version:2.0.0

Instrument

ResourceID
spase://SMWG/Instrument/AE-D/VAE
ResourceHeader
ResourceName
Visible Airglow Photometer (VAE)
AlternateName
VAE
ReleaseDate
2021-07-20 13:41:27Z
Description

The visible airglow experiment provided volume emission rates for several dayglow,
nightglow, and auroral optical emission features. A photometer containing two separate optical channels
was used. Spectral selection was accomplished with a common filter wheel that contained six interference
filters and a dark and calibrate position. The wavelengths measured in pairs (in Angstroms) were 7319
and 4861, 5200 and dark, 5577 and 7319, 4278 and 5200, 6300 and 5577, calibration and 4278, and 4861
and 6300. The two channels were separated in angle by 90 deg. One channel had a large field of view
(3 deg half-angle) for high sensitivity, normally pointing toward the local zenith, and the second
channel had a small field of view (0.75 deg half-angle) for high spatial resolution, pointing tangent
to the surface of the earth when the satellite was in the despun mode. Both channels were protected from
stray light contamination during daytime by multistage baffle systems. Photons that had been spectrally
and spatially selected were sensed by a pulse-counting photomultiplier system capable of counting at a
rate of 5.E6 counts/s. The filters could be operated in several modes, e.g., fixed filter, and
automatic filter changes could be synchronized either to satellite orientation or to a fixed-time
base. More experiment details can be found in P. B. Hays et al., Radio Sci., v. 8, n. 4, p. 369, 1973.
NSSDC has all the useful data that exist from this investigation.

Contacts
RolePersonStartDateStopDateNote
1.PrincipalInvestigatorspase://SMWG/Person/Paul.B.Hays
InformationURL
Name
NSSDC's Master Catalog
URL
Description

Information about the Visible Airglow Photometer (VAE) experiment on the AE-D mission.

InformationURL
Name
Radio Science Journal Article
URL
Description

Detailed information about the Visible Airglow Photometer (VAE) experiment on the AE-D mission.

InstrumentType
Photometer
InvestigationName
Visible Airglow Photometer (VAE) on AE-D
ObservatoryID