The Airborne Infrared Spectrometer: Development, Characterization, and the 21 August 2017 Eclipse Observation

TL;DR

The paper details the development, calibration, and successful deployment of the AIR-Spec instrument during the 2017 solar eclipse, capturing coronal emission lines to study solar magnetic fields and space weather.

Contribution

It introduces the AIR-Spec instrument's design and calibration methods, and reports its first successful observation of coronal emission lines during a solar eclipse.

Findings

Successful observation of five coronal emission lines

Instrument design and calibration methods detailed

Data collected provides insights into solar magnetic fields

Abstract

On August 21, 2017, the Airborne Infrared Spectrometer (AIR-Spec) observed the total solar eclipse at an altitude of 14 km from aboard the NSF/NCAR Gulfstream V research aircraft. The instrument successfully observed the five coronal emission lines that it was designed to measure: Si X 1.431 $\mu$m, S XI 1.921 $\mu$m, Fe IX 2.853 $\mu$m, Mg VIII 3.028 $\mu$m, and Si IX 3.935 $\mu$m. Characterizing these magnetically sensitive emission lines is an important first step in designing future instruments to monitor the coronal magnetic field, which drives space weather events as well as coronal heating, structure, and dynamics. The AIR-Spec instrument includes an image stabilization system, feed telescope, grating spectrometer, and slit-jaw imager. This paper details the instrument design, optical alignment method, image processing, and data calibration approach. The eclipse observations are described and the available data are summarized.