Middle Atmosphere High Resolution Spectrograph Investigation

The Middle Atmosphere High Resolution Spectrograph Investigation (MAHRSI) was developed specifically to measure the vertical density profiles of hydroxyl (OH) and nitric oxide (NO) in the middle atmosphere from space. MAHRSI was launched on its first flight in November 1994 on the CRISTA‐SPAS satellite that was deployed and retrieved by the space shuttle. The instrument measured the radiance profiles of ultraviolet solar resonance fluorescence on the Earth's limb with a spectral resolving power of 15,600 at a wavelength of 308 nm and 7200 at 215 nm. The instantaneous height of the field of view projected to the tangent point was about 300 m. OH limb radiance measurements were made between altitudes of 90 and 30 km, and each limb scan extended over a horizontal distance of 1200 km. For NO a limb scan extended between altitudes of 140 and 76 km and over a horizontal distance 700 km. Observations were made from 52°S latitude to 62°N latitude. The OH measurements have been inverted to provide the first global maps of the vertical distribution of OH between 90 and 50 km. The data show a detailed history of the morning formation of a strongly peaked layer of OH at an altitude of 68 km. This layer was produced by solar photodissociation of a thin layer of water vapor peaked at 65 km extending between 30°S and 35°N observed contemporaneously by the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite. MAHRSI was successfully flown for a second time in August 1997 under conditions that extended the geographical coverage to 72°N latitude and local solar time coverage through the afternoon hours. This paper provides a detailed description of the experiment and instrumentation, of the algorithms used to reduce the spectral data and perform the inversions, and presents examples of key results from the 1994 flight.