ICON MIGHTI: Lower Thermospheric Temperature from O2 A-Band Spectral Imaging

Temperature data for the lower thermosphere derived from spectral shape measurements of the molecular oxygen A-band around 762 nm. The dataset is produced by the Michelson Interferometer for Global High-resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI) instrument on NASA's ICON satellite, using five specific filter wavelengths to isolate the signal. The data was last updated on the platform in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling lower thermospheric temperature variations based on the O2 A-band spectral shape.
• Calibrating satellite instrument thermal drift using the three filter channels sampling the band shape.
• Analyzing atmospheric background radiance from the two filter channels at 754.1 nm and 780.1 nm.
• Studying the relationship between spectral line shifts and atmospheric temperature.

Strengths

• Data is sourced from NASA, a highly authoritative space agency.
• The measurement method uses five specific filter wavelengths (754.1, 760.0, 762.8, 765.2, 780.1 nm) to maximize sensitivity and allow for on-board thermal drift calibration.
• The dataset was updated on the platform in March 2026, suggesting recent availability.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect temporal or geographic bias inherent to the satellite's orbit and observation schedule.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the MIGHTI instrument on the ICON satellite, using a multichannel photometric measurement of the O2 A-band spectral shape.

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 13 06:56:22.188277; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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