The PMC Turbo Balloon Mission to Measure Gravity Waves and Turbulence in Polar Mesospheric Clouds: Camera, Telemetry, and Software Performance. Issue 8 (22nd August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kjellstrand, Carl Bjorn; Jones, Glenn; Geach, Christopher; Williams, Bifford P.; Fritts, David C.; Miller, Amber; Hanany, Shaul; Limon, Michele; Reimuller, Jason
• Is Part Of: Earth and space science. Volume 7:Issue 8(2020)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2020-08-22
• Subjects: aeronomy -- balloon‐borne experiments -- cameras -- flight control software -- gravity waves -- polar mesospheric clouds; Space sciences -- Periodicals; Geophysics -- Periodicals; 500.5
• DOI: 10.1029/2020EA001238
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2333-5084

Abstract

Abstract: The Polar Mesospheric Cloud Turbulence (PMC Turbo) instrument consists of a balloon‐borne platform which hosts seven cameras and a Rayleigh lidar. During a 6‐day flight in July 2018, the cameras captured images of Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMCs) with a sensitivity to spatial scales from ~20 m to 100 km at a ~2‐s cadence and a full field of view (FOV) of hundreds of kilometers. We developed software optimized for imaging of PMCs, controlling multiple independent cameras, compressing and storing images, and for choosing telemetry communication channels. We give an overview of the PMC Turbo design focusing on the flight software and telemetry functions. We describe the performance of the system during its first flight in July 2018. Key Points: PMC Turbo, a balloon‐borne platform hosting seven cameras and a Rayleigh lidar, launched in July 2018 We describe the camera hardware and image capture methods used during the mission We describe the design and performance of the flight control hardware and software