BackForwardInstrument:  UVI 

Instrument details
Acronym UVI
Full name Ultraviolet Imager
Purpose To study the spatial and temporal descriptions of the aurora, and perform imagery of total particle flux, characteristic energy, thermospheric neutral composition, and ionospheric conductances
Short description Imaging fluxmeter. Intensified CCD used in conjunction with a fast reflective optical system. Five lines in the range 130-190 nm
Background Part of a package of instruments to explore the Magnetosphere
Scanning Technique Travelling cross the Magnetosphere in a highly-elliptical orbit, also observing Earth's limb and surface
Resolution 300 km for the Earth's limb, 30 km for the surface (from the apogee)
Coverage / Cycle Full magnetosphere, with sampling at 30 s intervals
Mass 21 kg Power 21 W Data Rate 12 kbps

 

Providing Agency NASA
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 1996 to 2008
Last update: 2017-05-21
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 No WIGOS subcomponents have been defined.
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Aurora
  • UV flux
  • UV sky image
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*1 - primaryNo specific limitation.Earth's limb and surface observed, wide dynamic range
UV sky image*1 - primaryNo specific limitation.Earth's limb observed, high spatial resolution
Heliospheric image4 - fairNo specific limitation.Viewing across the magnetosphere in the UV band (121.6-393.4 nm)
Aurora*2 - very highNo specific limitation.Observed down to Earth's surface in UV (121.6-393.4 nm)