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Advanced Net Flux Radiometer for the Ice Giants

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Abstract

The design of an advanced Net Flux Radiometer (NFR), for inclusion as a payload on a future Ice Giants probe mission, is given. The Ice Giants NFR (IG-NFR) will measure the upward and downward radiation flux (hence net radiation flux), in seven spectral bands, spanning the range from solar to far infra-red wavelengths, each with a \(5^{\circ}\) Field-Of-View (FOV) and in five sequential view angles (\(\pm 80^{\circ}\), \(\pm 45^{\circ}\), and \(0^{\circ}\)) as a function of altitude. IG-NFR measurements within either Uranus or Neptune’s atmospheres, using dedicated spectral filter bands will help derive radiative heating and cooling profiles, and will significantly contribute to our understanding of the planet’s atmospheric heat balance and structure, tropospheric 3-D flow, and compositions and opacities of the cloud layers. The IG-NFR uses an array of non-imaging Winston cones integrated to a matched thermopile detector Focal Plane Assembly (FPA), with individual bandpass filters, housed in a diamond windowed vacuum micro-vessel. The FPA thermopile detector signals are read out in parallel mode, amplified and processed by a multi-channel digitizer application specific integrated circuit (MCD ASIC) under field programmable gate array (FPGA) control. The vacuum micro-vessel rotates providing chopping between FOV’s of upward and downward radiation fluxes. This unique design allows for small net flux measurements in the presence of large ambient fluxes and rapidly changing ambient temperatures during the probe descent to \({\geq} 10\) bar pressure.

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Acknowledgements

We thank NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for research and development funds, and the NASA ROSES PICASSO program (NNH17ZDA001N-PICASSO) for supporting the design and technology maturation of the IG-NFR. We also wish to thank Ms. Maxine Alexandre-Strong, a 2019 NASA summer intern for proof reading this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA

    S. Aslam, C. A. Nixon, G. Quilligan, A. A. Simon & G. Villanueva

  2. University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    R. K. Achterberg, V. Cottini & T. Hewagama

  3. Oxford University, Parks Rd., Oxford, OX1 3PU, UK

    S. B. Calcutt, P. G. Irwin & M. Roos-Serote

  4. Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, 20064, USA

    N. J. Gorius & D. Tran

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  1. S. Aslam
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  2. R. K. Achterberg
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  3. S. B. Calcutt
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  4. V. Cottini
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  5. N. J. Gorius
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  13. G. Villanueva
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Correspondence to S. Aslam.

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In Situ Exploration of the Ice Giants: Science and Technology

Edited by Olivier J. Mousis and David H. Atkinson

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Aslam, S., Achterberg, R.K., Calcutt, S.B. et al. Advanced Net Flux Radiometer for the Ice Giants. Space Sci Rev 216, 11 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-019-0630-x

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