Simulation and analysis of a multi-order imaging Fabry-Perot interferometer for the study of thermospheric winds and temperatures.

We describe an analysis procedure for estimating the thermospheric winds and temperatures from the multi-order two-dimensional (2D) interferograms produced by an imaging Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) as imaged by a CCD detector. We also present a forward model describing the 2D interferograms. To investigate the robustness and accuracy of the analysis, we perform several Monte Carlo simulations using this forward model for an FPI that has recently been developed and deployed to northeastern Brazil.