The RAIDS Experiment on the ISS

The Remote Atmospheric and Ionospheric Detection System (RAIDS) is a suite of three photometers, three spectrometers, and two spectrographs which span the wavelength range 50-874 nm and remotely sense the thermosphere and ionosphere by scanning and imaging the limb. RAIDS was originally designed, built, delivered, and integrated onto a NOAA TIROS satellite in 1992. After a series of unfruitful flight opportunities, RAIDS is now manifested to fly on the Japanese Experiment Module—Exposed Facility (JEM-EF) aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in September 2009. RAIDS along with a companion hyperspectal imaging experiment will serve as the first US payload on the JEM-EF.

The RAIDS mission objectives have been re-examined and refocused since its original flight opportunity to accommodate the lower ISS orbit and to account for recent scientific progress. Over the last year RAIDS has undergone a fast-paced hardware modification program to prepare for the ISS mission. The scientific objectives of the new RAIDS experiment are to study the temperature of the lower thermosphere (100–200 km), to measure composition and chemistry of the lower thermosphere and ionosphere, and to measure the initial source of OII 83.4 nm emission. RAIDS will provide valuable data useful for exploring tidal effects in the thermosphere and ionosphere system, validating dayside ionospheric remote sensing methods, and studying local time variations in important chemical and thermal processes.