Initial ground-based thermospheric wind measurements using Doppler asymmetric spatial heterodyne spectroscopy (DASH)

We present the first thermospheric wind measurements using a Doppler Asymmetric Spatial Heterodyne (DASH) spectrometer and the oxygen red-line nightglow emission. The ground-based observations were made from Washington, DC and include simultaneous calibration measurements to track and correct instrument drifts. Even though the measurements were made under challenging thermal and light pollution conditions, they are of good quality with photon statistics uncertainties between about three and twenty-nine meters per second, depending on the nightglow intensity. The wind data are commensurate with a representative set of Millstone Hill Fabry-Perot wind measurements selected for similar geomagnetic and solar cycle conditions. (C)2010 Optical Society of America