Improvements To The Sensitivity And Sampling Capabilities Of Doppler Michelson Interferometers

For the first time, a generalized bin-by-bin analysis approach developed to characterize the visibility, phase, and brightness from Doppler Michelson interferometry (DMI) fringe images is presented. This approach allows for significant advances to the spatial/temporal resolution and sensitivity of DMI utilized for measuring upper atmospheric motions. Expressions for the sensitivity that depend only on the instrument parameters are derived. A unique calibration approach, developed to take full advantage of the DMI imaging capability, is described. The usefulness and validity of this approach is demonstrated using observations from two field widened interferometers implemented in the field (E-Region Wind Interferometer (ERWIN-II) and the Michelson Interferometer for Airglow Dynamics Imaging (MIADI)). Incorporating the imaging capability into the DMI approach enhances the spatial/temporal information that can be extracted from geophysical observations. (c) 2020 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement