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F. Schm{\"u}lling (NRC/NAS), T. Kostiuk, D. Buhl, P. Rozmarynowski, K. Segal (NASA/GSFC), T. Livengood, T. Hewagama (UMD)
A new Heterodyne Instrument for Planetary Wind And Composition (HIPWAC) will be presented. HIPWAC has advanced capabilities to investigate winds and molecular composition in low-pressure high-altitude regions of planetary atmospheres, and for studies of other extraterrestrial molecular emissions, for example cometary comae or circumstellar gases. A frequency stabilized CO2-laser local oscillator (LO) allows observations at wavelengths between~9 and~12\,\mu\mathrm{m}. The stability of the LO and the IF spectrum analyzer provide a frequency resolution of better than \lambda/\Delta\lambda>107. The band-width of the instrument is about~2\,\mathrm{GHz} per sideband. The use of modern carbon composite materials for the CO2-laser and the optical bench guarantees low thermal expansion and high optical stability of the instrument. Its compact low mass design will permit its use at various observatories, especially the new~8--10 meter class telescopes. The achievable diffraction limited FOV on appropriately large telescopes will permit the study of small scale phenomena and small bodies: e.g, the direction and magnitude of Titan's atmospheric circulation (in support of the Cassini Huygens Probe), the study of Mars global dynamics, investigation of seasonal circulation on Venus, a study of global and local (polar hot spot) stratospheric dynamics, storms, auroral phenomena on Jupiter, and observation of comets and planets during orbital periods distant from the Earth (e.g., Mars during conjunction).
The instrument design and expected improvements in the measurement of planetary atmospheric parameters will be discussed.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: Frank.Schmuelling@gsfc.nasa.gov