きぼう船外実験プラットフォーム初期利用ミッション(3)

超伝導サプミリ波リム放射サウンダ

抄録

The sub-millimeter wavelength region is advantageous for high-precision observations of trace species in the stratosphere. A Superconducting Sub-Millimeter-Wave Limb Emission Sounder (SMILES) is scheduled to demonstrate the measurements of extremely faint sub-millimeter-wave emissions of the atmospheric trace gases on the Exposed Facility (EF) of the Japanese Experimental Module (JEM) of the International Space Station in 2005. ]EM/SMILES utilizes the 640 GHz-band to measure the vertical profiles of trace gases involved in the stratospheric ozone depletion, such as chlorine monoxide (ClO), bromine monoxide (BrO), etc. The applications of superconductivity and mechanical 4 K-refrigerator in space will be demonstrated in the experiment. ]EM/SMILES employs a Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) receiver to improve measurement precision and spatial resolution with its very high sensitivity, thereby enabling us to quantitatively understand the interactive processes between chemistry and dynamics. ]EM/SMILES is a pre-phase of SMILES to be equipped on an Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Mission, A TMOS-C, proposed to an Earth observation scenario estimated in the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA).