ICON MIGHTI-B: Thermospheric Wind and Temperature Measurements from Satellite

The MIGHTI instrument on the ICON satellite measures horizontal wind speed and direction in the thermosphere. It uses Doppler Asymmetric Spatial Heterodyne (DASH) spectrometers to detect atomic oxygen emissions at 630.0 nm and 557.7 nm for wind, and the molecular oxygen A-band around 762 nm for temperature. This dataset is produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling thermospheric wind patterns based on Doppler shift measurements of atomic oxygen lines
• Analyzing temperature profiles in the upper atmosphere based on spectral shape measurements of the molecular oxygen A-band
• Calibrating satellite instrumentation based on the described on-board calibration sources and dual-field-of-view design
• Studying the coupling between different atmospheric layers based on combined wind and temperature data

Strengths

• Data is derived from a sophisticated instrument using field-widened, temperature-compensated DASH spectrometers.
• Wind vector is determined by combining measurements from two perpendicular fields of view separated by 90 degrees.
• Multiple atmospheric parameters (wind speed, direction, and temperature) are detected on a single, cooled CCD.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data files are in BIN format, which may require specialized tools for access and processing.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from the MIGHTI-B instrument on the ICON satellite, using Doppler Asymmetric Spatial Heterodyne (DASH) spectrometers and a CCD detector.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 13 06:31:59.976406; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage from satellite orbit.