Sounding of the Atmosphere Using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER): Instrument and Science Measurement Description

SABER (Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry) is a 10‐channel infrared radiometer that is one of four instruments on the NASA TIMED (Thermosphere‐Ionosphere‐Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics) satellite mission to study the structure, energetics, chemistry, and dynamics of the Earth's mesosphere and lower thermosphere. Each of the ten SABER channels has a unique filter over its detector. The filter passes infrared radiation within a defined spectral region that optimizes the ability to derive temperature and constituent concentrations from the infrared radiance measurements. The TIMED spacecraft was launched into a 625 km circular polar orbit (74.1° inclination) via a Boeing Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base on 7 December 2001. SABER continues to operate nominally and collect data routinely as it has for over 21 years. Nearly 2,200 peer‐reviewed journal articles have been published worldwide using SABER data. A list of these articles is included in Supporting Information S1 accompanying this paper. This paper presents a detailed technical description of the SABER instrument including major subsystems of the instrument and technical performance parameters. This paper comprehensively describes the instrument and its components and provides final instrument design and performance parameters. The motivation for this paper is to document this information permanently for future reference. The Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) of Utah State University designed, fabricated, and calibrated the SABER instrument in close collaboration with NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton University, and Global Atmospheric Technologies and Science (GATS). Plain Language Summary Earth's mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT), approximately 50–180 km in altitude or 30 to 110 miles high, was the least explored region of the atmosphere 30 years ago. The MLT is a critical region of Earth's atmosphere as it is the boundary or interface between the space environment and the lower atmosphere. Today the region is referred to as part of the “geospace” environment. To examine the MLT in more detail, NASA developed the Thermosphere‐Ionosphere‐Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics or TIMED satellite mission beginning in 1996. Launch of the TIMED satellite occurred in December 2001. One of the four instruments carried by the TIMED satellite is named SABER (Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry). SABER continues to provide exceptional