BackForwardInstrument:  GUVI 

Instrument details
Acronym GUVI
Full name Global Ultra-Violet Imager
Purpose Solar-terrestrial interactions - to monitor auroral phenomena
Short description Imaging spectrometer. 160 spectral channels in 5 selectable sub-ranges of the UV interval from 110 to 180 nm, inclusive of the H Lyman-alpha line at 121.6 nm
Background New development
Scanning Technique Cross-track scan up to beyond the horizon opposite to sun, till tangent altitude of 520 km. Fast scanning along-track of 14 IFOVs of 9.5 km s.s.p. Swath: 3000 km
Resolution 9.5 km at s.s.p., 300 km for limb viewing
Coverage / Cycle Global daily. Sampling at 22 s intervals
Mass 19.2 kg Power 24 W Data Rate 8 kbps

 

Providing Agency NASA
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 2002 to 2024
Last update: 2021-12-09
Detailed characteristics
Satellites this instrument is flying on

Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates future satellites

Instrument classification
  • Solar and space environment monitors
  • Space radiometer or spectrometer
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 2
  • Magnetospheric energetic particles and magnetometers
  • Ionospheric electron density sensor [in LEO and cross magnetosphere]
  • Ionospheric plasma density
  • Subcomponent 3
  • UV spectral imagery (e.g. GEO, HEO, MEO, LEO)
  • UV spectral imager [from GEO, HEO, MEO, LEO]
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Aurora
Evaluation of Measurements

The following list indicates which measurements can typically be retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable, click on the respective variable.

Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Note: * Primary mission objective.
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
UV flux spectrum1 - primaryNo specific limitation.Earth's limb observed, high spectral resolution
UV sky image1 - primaryNo specific limitation.Earth's limb observed, spectrometry with high spatial resolution
Aurora*2 - very highNo specific limitation.Observed down to Earth's surface in UV (121.6-393.4 nm)
Ionospheric plasma density5 - marginalNo specific limitation.UV imaging spectrometer measuring ionospheric plasma density in the Earth's limb
Electron Density5 - marginalNo specific limitation.UV spectrometry of the Earth's limb