Development of Optical Mesosphere Thermosphere Imagers (OMTI)

The Optical Mesosphere Thermosphere Imagers (OMTI) have been developed to investigate the dynamics of the upper atmosphere through nocturnal airglow emissions. The OMTI consist of an imaging Fabry-Perot interferometer, three all-sky cooled-CCD cameras, three tilting photometers, and a Spectral Airglow Temperature Imager (SATI) with two container houses to install them in. These instruments measure wind, temperature and 2-dimensional airglow patterns in the upper atmosphere at multi-wavelengths of OI (557.7 nm and 630.0 nm), OH (6–2) bands, O 2 (0, 1) bands, and Na (589.3 nm), simultaneously. Examples of the data are shown for the cameras, the photometers, and the SATI based on the airglow observation at a mid-latitude station in Japan. Good correlation of the photometer and SATI observations is obtained. A comparison is shown for small- and large-scale wave structures in airglow images at four wavelengths around the mesopause region using four cooled-CCD cameras. We found an event during which large-scale bands, small-scale row-like structures, and large-scale front passage occur simultaneously.