The stratospheric wind interferometer for transport studies (swift)

The Stratospheric Wind Interferometer For Transport studies (SWIFT) is an instrument intended to measure winds to an accuracy of 5 m s⁻¹ or better in the stratosphere, during both day and night, as well as ozone concentrations. It is based on WINDII, the WIND Imaging Interferometer on the UARS satellite, but there are a number of important differences. WINDII operated in the visible region, with widely-spaced airglow emission lines, a field-widened Michelson interferometer that uses glass combinations to provide thermal stability, and a CCD detector. SWIFT uses the thermal emission from an ozone line near 8.9 μm, a region in which the choice of refractive materials is very limited. Through a careful search for a suitable line several were found of appropriate strength that were adequately isolated, but only with a combination of etalon filters. Fortunately, HgCdTe array detectors are available so the detector is not a problem. By measuring both winds and ozone concentration it is possible to measure ozone fluxes. SWIFT will study ozone transport, transport across the sub-tropical mixing barrier, equatorial dynamics and data assimilation. The latter is an important tool for the execution of the scientific objectives.