Development of EUV optics for Oxygen ion imagery in the polar wind

2000 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 10440135
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B).
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Space and upper atmospheric physics
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: NAKAMURA Masato Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, Associate professor, 大学院・理学系研究科, 助教授 (20227937)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): IWAGAMI Naomoto Graduate school of Science Associate professor, 大学院・理学系研究科, 助教授 (30143374)
• Project Period (FY): 1998 – 2000
• Keywords: Oxygen ion / Polar wind / Resonance scattering / Plasma Imagery

Research Abstract

We have started the development of the EUV optics to detect the scattered EUV emission (O II) by the Oxygen ions in the polar wind. Hydrogen absorption cell and the mirror which does not reflect Lyman-α will be the key to eliminate the Lyman α line from the Geocorona. In 2000, we have developed the extreme-ultraviolet scanner XUV boarded on the sounding rocket SS-520-2.
The sounding rocket SS-520-2 was launched from the Svalbard Rocket Experiment Site on December 4, 2000, and flew under the magnetospheric cusp region. The XUV scanner designed to detect the OII emission from the polar w333ind and the ionospheric F layer was successfully operated.
In spite of the fact that the XUV scanner is not necessarily very sensitive to the OII emission. the sufficient accumulation time enabled us to detect the OII emissions from the ionospheric F layer and the polar wind. This success is the first attempt to take two-dimensional images of the oxygen ion distribution around the earth via the optical remote sensing.