The Case for Combining a Large Low-Band Very High Frequency Transmitter With Multiple Receiving Arrays for Geospace Research: A Geospace Radar

We argue that combining a high‐power, large‐aperture radar transmitter with several large‐aperture receiving arrays to make a geospace radar—a radar capable of probing near‐Earth space from the upper troposphere through to the solar corona—would transform geospace research. We review the emergence of incoherent scatter radar in the 1960s as an agent that unified early, pioneering research in geospace in a common theoretical, experimental, and instrumental framework, and we suggest that a geospace radar would have a similar effect on future developments in space weather research. We then discuss recent developments in radio‐array technology that could be exploited in the development of a geospace radar with new or substantially improved capabilities compared to the radars in use presently. A number of applications for a geospace radar with the new and improved capabilities are reviewed including studies of meteor echoes, mesospheric and stratospheric turbulence, ionospheric flows, plasmaspheric and ionospheric irregularities, and reflection from the solar corona and coronal mass ejections. We conclude with a summary of technical requirements

Improved real-time imaging spectrometer

An improved AOTF-based imaging spectrometer that offers several advantages over prior art AOTF imaging spectrometers is presented. The ability to electronically set the bandpass wavelength provides observational flexibility. Various improvements in optical architecture provide simplified magnification variability, improved image resolution and light throughput efficiency and reduced sensitivity to ambient light. Two embodiments of the invention are: (1) operation in the visible/near-infrared domain of wavelength range 0.48 to 0.76 microns; and (2) infrared configuration which operates in the wavelength range of 1.2 to 2.5 microns

Astronomical photonics in the context of infrared interferometry and high-resolution spectroscopy

We review the potential of Astrophotonics, a relatively young field at the interface between photonics and astronomical instrumentation, for spectro-interferometry. We review some fundamental aspects of photonic science that drove the emer- gence of astrophotonics, and highlight the achievements in observational astrophysics. We analyze the prospects for further technological development also considering the potential synergies with other fields of physics (e.g. non-linear optics in condensed matter physics). We also stress the central role of fiber optics in routing and transporting light, delivering complex filters, or interfacing instruments and telescopes, more specifically in the context of a growing usage of adaptive optics.Comment: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation conference, June 2016, 21 pages, 10 Figure