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

The MIGHTI-B instrument on the ICON satellite measures horizontal wind vectors and temperature in Earth's thermosphere. It uses Doppler spectroscopy on atomic oxygen emissions at 630.0 nm and 557.7 nm and photometry on the molecular oxygen A-band around 762 nm. The 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 variations in the upper atmosphere based on spectral shape measurements of the O2 A-band.
• Validating space weather and atmospheric models based on satellite-derived wind vector data.
• Studying the coupling between different atmospheric layers based on combined wind and temperature observations.

Strengths

• Data is derived from a dedicated satellite instrument (MIGHTI) using field-widened, temperature-compensated DASH spectrometers.
• Wind vectors are determined by combining measurements from two perpendicular fields of view (MIGHTI A and B).
• On-board calibration sources are used to periodically quantify thermal drifts.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and spatial/temporal coverage specifics are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from the MIGHTI-B instrument on the ICON satellite using Doppler spectroscopy and photometry.

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 06:32:05.042739; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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