This work will undertake the development of a nearly fully automated Fabry-Perot Interferometer (FPI) and to employ it to measure the winds and temperatures of the thermospheric and mesopheric regions of the atmosphere over the South Pole. The data will greatly complement those obtained by other South Pole instrumentation and the new Halley Station radar. It will also be important to the new NSF initiative CEDAR, which addresses global atmospheric dynamics. The automated FPI will be remotely commanded by the proposer and guest investigators from the University of Alaska campus using satellite relay. Normal operation will require that the South Pole staff only change the data storage medium on an infrequent schedule. The proposer and his co-investigators are leaders in atmospheric dynamics and optics and can be expected to do an excellent job. The facilities of the institutions involved are more than adequate. Due to the instrument development involved partial funding is being provided by the Polar Operations Section. The Program recommends funding at the revised level for three years.
