SPINR - 2-DIMENSIONAL SPECTRAL IMAGING THROUGH TOMOGRAPHIC RECONSTRUCTION

We describe a novel technique that enables us to conduct 2-D imaging spectroscopy with a 1-D imaging spectrometer. A typical imaging spectrometer obtains a series of 1-D monochromatic images that contain the entire field of view, but the spatial information in the dispersion direction is lost. By rotating the instrument (hence, rotating the field of view), we compile a series of time-dependent profiles. We use a numerical tomographic reconstruction method to recover the second spatial dimension and thereby obtain 2-D monochromatic images of the field of view. This technique is more sensitive and, hence, collects a full 2-D image more quickly than a conventional push-broom scan. We present the results of numerical simulations and discuss the prospects of this method for magnetospheric imaging applications.