The Waves Michelson Interferometer (WAMI) is designed to provide simultaneous measurements of dynamical and constituent signatures in the upper stratosphere, mesosphere and lower thermosphere. It is being included as part of the Waves Explorer mission (G. Swenson, P.I. being proposed for NASA's MIDEX program. It is a field-widened Michelson interferometer based on the same design principle as the successful Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII). WAMI includes visible and near-IR channels, a segmented interferometer mirror for simultaneous fringe sampling at different optical paths and views the atmosphere in six distinct directions. Use of the segmented mirrors minimizes the aliasing of atmospheric intensity variations into the fringe parameter determinations. This technique also allows two emissions to be viewed simultaneously through the same optical channel. The emissions chosen include lines in the molecular oxygen IR-atmospheric band, a doublet in the hydroxyl Meinel bands and the oxygen green line. The daytime coverage includes winds from 45 to 180 km, and rotational temperature and ozone density from 45 to 95 km. The nighttime coverage is restricted to the airglow layer centered near 90 km where atomic oxygen, horizontal wind and rotational temperature measurements are provided. These measurements provide a rich data set from which dynamics, energetics and constituent budgets can be determined.
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