Development of low-cost multi-wavelength imager system for studies of aurora and airglow

• Main Authors: Ogawa, Y. (Y.), Tanaka, Y. (Y.), Kadokura, A. (A.), Hosokawa, K. (K.), Ebihara, Y. (Y.), Motoba, T. (T.), Gustavsson, B. (B.), Brändström, U. (U.), Sato, Y. (Y.), Oyama, S. (S.), Ozaki, M. (M.), Raita, T. (T.), Sigernes, F. (F.), Nozawa, S. (S.), Shiokawa, K. (K.), Kosch, M. (M.), Kauristie, K. (K.), Hall, C. (C.), Suzuki, S. (S.), Miyoshi, Y. (Y.), Gerrard, A. (A.), Miyaoka, H. (H.), Fujii, R. (R.)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2020
• Subjects: Airglow; Aurora; Imager; Polar ionosphere; Svalbard; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi-fe2020051229615

Abstract This paper introduces a new system that can monitor aurora and atmospheric airglow using a low-cost Watec monochromatic imager (WMI) equipped with a sensitive camera, a filter with high transmittance, and the non-telecentric optics. The WMI system with 486-nm, 558-nm, and 630-nm band-pass filters has observable luminosity of about ~200–4000 Rayleigh for 1.07-sec exposure time and about ~40–1200 Rayleigh for 4.27-sec exposure time, for example. It is demonstrated that the WMI system is capable of detecting 428-nm auroral intensities properly, through comparison with those measured with a collocated electron-multiplying charge-coupled device (EMCCD) imager system with narrower band-pass filter. The WMI system has two distinct advantages over the existing system: One makes it possible to reduce overall costs, and the other is that it enables the continuous observation even under twilight and moonlight conditions. Since 2013 a set of multi-wavelength WMIs has been operating in northern Scandinavia, Svalbard, and Antarctica to study meso- and large-scale aurora and airglow phenomena. Future development of the low-cost WMI system is expected to provide a great opportunity for constructing a global network for multi-wavelength aurora and airglow monitoring.