The EUV dayglow at high spectral resolution

Journal Article · Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1990 · Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/JA095iA04p04113· OSTI ID:5255081

Morrison, M D; Bowers, C W; Feldman, P D ^[1]; Meier, R R ^[2]

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1. Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States)
2. Naval Research Lab., Washington, DC (United States)

Rocket observations of the dayglow spectrum of the terrestrial atmosphere between 840 {angstrom} and 1860 {angstrom} at 2 {angstrom} resolution were obtained with a sounding rocket payload flown on January 17, 1985. Additionally, spectra were also obtained using a 0.125-m focal length scanning Ebert-Fastie monochromator covering the wavelength interval of 1150-1550 {angstrom} at 7 {angstrom} resolution on this flight and on a sounding rocket flight on August 29, 1983, under similar viewing geometries and solar zenith angles. Three bands of the N{sub 2} c{prime}{sub 4} system are seen clearly resolved in the dayglow. Analysis of high-resolution N{sub 2} Lyman-Birge-Hopfield data shows no anomalous vibrational distribution as has been reported from other observations. The altitude profiles of the observed O and N{sub 2} emissions demonstrate that the MSIS-83 model O and N{sub 2} densities are appropriate for the conditions of both the 1983 and 1985 rocket flights. A reduction of a factor of 2 in the model O{sub 2} density is required for both flights to reproduce the low-altitude atomic oxygen emission profiles. The volume excitation rates calculated using the Hinteregger et al. (1981) SC{number sign}21REFW solar reference spectrum and the photoelectron flux model of Strickland and Meier (1982) need to be scaled upward by a factor of 1.4 for both fights to match the observations.

• OSTI ID: 5255081
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Vol. 95:A4; ISSN 0148-0227
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AIRGLOW
ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRA
ALTITUDE
DATA
DATA ANALYSIS
ELECTRONS
EMISSION SPECTRA
EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NITROGEN
OXYGEN
ROCKETS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ELEMENTS
FERMIONS
INFORMATION
LEPTONS
NONMETALS
RADIATIONS
SPECTRA
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
640201* - Atmospheric Physics- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magetospheric Phenomena