The excitation of the infrared atmospheric oxygen bands in the nightglow

Simultaneous observations of the nightgiow emission profiles of $\text{O}{}_2\text{(}{}^1\text{Δ)}$ and the OH Meinel bands have been used to show that the excitation mechanism for $\text{O}{}_2\text{(}{}^1\text{Δ)}$ in the night-time is through the reaction between OH¹ and atomic oxygen and the recombination of atomic oxygen. These reactions, and the proposed rate constants, have been used to derive the atomic oxygen profile appropriate to the observations. It is suggested that the atomic oxygen profile may exhibit significant structure near the mesopause at high latitude. It is also suggested that the extent of this structure may be influenced by transport effects related to stratospheric warming events.     

A global study of O2(1Δg) airglow: Day and twilight

Aircraft measurements of $\text{O}{}_2\text{(}{}^1\text{Δ}{}_{\mathrm{g}}\text{)}$ emission made over a 10-yr period provide information on the variation of ozone with latitude and season in the altitude region 50–90 km. Between 50 and 70 km there appears to be little variation (< ± 25%) whereas the abundance between 80 and 90 km exhibits a large seasonal change north of 30°N and much less at lower latitude. At mid and high latitude the column abundance above ～ 80 km changes from ? 1 × 10¹⁴ cm^?2 in summer to about 3 × 10¹⁴ cm^?2 in winter. There are occasional enhancements in both the day and twilight airglow which almost always occur in association with auroral activity or, at least, where such activity is statistically most likely. These enhancements appear to reflect a corresponding increase in the ozone mixing ratio in the upper stratosphere. While the gradient in ozone mixing ratio with latitude is generally small at altitudes between 50 and 90km there are occasions when a temporary latitude structure can be seen, particularly above 80 km.     

The O(1S) quantum yield from O2+ dissociative recombination

Recent laboratory studies show that the $\text{O}\text{(}{}^1\text{S}\text{)}$ quantum yield, $\text{f}\text{(}{}^1\text{S}\text{)}$, from O₂⁺ dissociative recombination varies considerably with the degree r of vibrational excitation. However, the suggestion that the high values for $\text{f}\text{(}{}^1\text{S}\text{)}$ deduced from airglow and auroral observations can be explained by invoking vibrational excitation, creates a number of problems. Firstly, the rapid vibrational deactivation of O₂⁺ ions by collisions with O atoms will keep r too low to account for the magnitude of $\text{f}\text{(}{}^1\text{S}\text{)}$; secondly, r varies considerably from one atmospheric source to another but its relative values (which should be reliable) do not co-vary with those of $\text{f}\text{(}{}^1\text{S}\text{)}$; thirdly, because r increases markedly above the peak of the $\text{X5577}\text{A}\text{?}$ dissociative recombination layer, the fits which theorists have obtained to the observed volume emission rate profiles would have to be regarded as fortuitious. It is tentatively suggested that $\text{f}\text{(}{}^1\text{S}\text{)}$ is higher in the airglow and aurora than in the laboratory plasma studied by Zipf (1980) because of the electron temperature dependence of the $\text{O}\text{(}{}^1\text{S}\text{)}$ specific recombination coefficient for O₂⁺(v^' ? 3) ions.The repulsive ${}^1\text{Σ}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>u</mtext>}}\text{[}{}^1\text{D}\text{+}{}^1\text{s}\text{]}$ state of O₂ does not provide a suitable channel for the dissociative recombination. A possible alternative is the bound ${}^3\text{Π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>u</mtext>}}\text{[}{}^5\text{S}\text{+}{}^3\text{s}\text{]}$ state with predissociation to the repulsive ${}^3\text{Π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>u</mtext>}}\text{[}{}^3\text{P}\text{+}{}^1\text{s}\text{]}$ state.     

On the photodissociation of water vapour in the mesosphere

The photodissociation of water vapour in the mesosphere depends on the absorption of solar radiation in the region (175–200 nm) of the O₂ Schumann-Runge band system and also at H-Lyman alpha. The photodissociation products are OH + H, OH + H, O + 2H and H₂ + O at Lyman alpha; the percentages for these four channels are 70, 8, 12 and 10%, respectively, but OH + H is the only channel between 175 and 200 nm. Such proportions lead to a production of H atoms corresponding to practically the total photodissociation of H₂O, while the production of H₂ molecules is only 10% of the H₂O photodissociation by Lyman alpha.The photodissociation frequency (s^?1) at Lyman alpha can be expressed by a simple formula

$\text{J}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>Ly</mtext><mtext>\alpha </mtext>}}\text{H}{}_2\text{O=4.5 ×10}{}^{\mathrm{?6}}\text{1+0.2}\text{F}{}_{10.7}\text{?65}\text{100}\text{exp}\text{[?4.4 ×10}{}^{\mathrm{?19}}\text{N}{}^{0.917}\text{]}$

where F_{10.7 cm} is the solar radioflux at 10.7 cm and N the total number of O₂ molecules (cm^?2), and when the following conventional value is accepted for the Lyman alpha solar irradiance at the top of the Earth's atmosphere ($\text{Δλ = 3.5}\text{A}\text{?}$) q_Lyα,∞ = 3 × 10¹¹ photons cm^?2 s^1?.The photodissociation frequency for the Schumann-Runge band region is also given for mesospheric conditions by a simple formula

$\text{J}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>SRB</mtext>}}\text{(}\text{H}{}_2\text{O}\text{) = J}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>SRB</mtext><mtext>,\infty </mtext>}}\text{(}\text{H}{}_2\text{O}\text{) exp [?10}{}^{\mathrm{?7}}\text{N}{}^{0.35}\text{]}$

where J_SRB,∞(H₂O) = 1.2 × 10^?6 and 1.4 × 10^?6 s^?1 for quiet and active sun conditions, respectively.The precision of both formulae is good, with an uncertainty less than 10%, but their accuracy depends on the accuracy of observational and experimental parameters such as the absolute solar irradiances, the variable transmittance of O₂ and the H₂O effective absorption cross sections. The various uncertainties are discussed. As an example, the absolute values deduced from the above formulae could be decreased by about 25-20% if the possible minimum values of the solar irradiances were used.     

A discussion of the energy transfer from N2(A3Σu+) to O(1S) in pulsating aurora

In a recent paper, Brekke and Pettersen (1972) have introduced a method for estimating any indirect process in the production of the $\text{O}\text{(}{}^1\text{S}$) atoms in pulsating aurora; for 38 per cent of their data they found that the decay time for the indirect mechanism was shorter than the effective lifetime of the ${}^1\text{S}$ state. These data are related to the energy transfer from the N₂(A³Σ) molecules to the $\text{O}\text{(}{}^1\text{S)}$ state, and evidence is found for this process to contribute in the altitude range below 125 km.     

The excitation of atomic oxygen to the O(1S) level by energy transfer from N2(A3∑u+) molecules in aurora

The part that the energy transfer reaction $\text{N}{}_2\text{(A}{}^3\text{∑}{}_{\mathrm{u}}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{) + O(}{}^3\text{P) → N}{}_2\text{(X}{}^1\text{∑}{}_{\mathrm{g}}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{) + O(}{}^1\text{S)}$ plays in the excitation of the auroral green line has been investigated. The contribution is estimated to be 40 per cent in this case, containing pulsating aurora in class IBC 1. Due to greater quenching of the A³∑_u⁺ state, the centroid of the VK emission is displaced 10 km upwards of the green line height, which is centred at 110 km.     

Cross-section for the dissociative photoionization of hydrogen by 584 Å radiation: The formation of protons in the Jovian ionosphere

The cross-section for dissociative photoionization of hydrogen by 584 Å radiation has been measured, yielding a value of 5 × 10^?20 cm². The process can be explained as a transition from the $\text{X}{}^1\text{Σ}{}_{\mathrm{g}}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ ground state to a continuum level of the $\text{X}{}^2\text{Σ}{}_{\mathrm{g}}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ ionized state of H₂ The branching ratio for proton (H⁺) vs molecular ion (H₂⁺) production at this energy is 8 × 10^?3. This process is quite likely an important source of protons in the Jovian ionosphere near altitudes where peak ionization rates are found.     

An indirect mechanism for the production of O(1S) in the aurora

Recent laboratory measurements of the deactivation rate constants for O(¹S) have suggested that the dominant production mechanism for the green line in the nightglow is a two-step process. A similar mechanism involving energy transfer from an excited state of molecular oxygen is considered as a potential source of the OI (5577 Å) emission in the aurora. It is shown that the mechanism, $\text{O}{}_2\text{+ e → O}{}_2{}^1\text{+ e O}{}_2{}^1\text{+ O → O}{}_2\text{+ O(}{}^1\text{S}\text{)}$, is consistent with auroral observations; the intermediate excited state has been tentatively identified as the O₂(c¹∑^?_u) state. For the proposed energy transfer mechanism to be the primary source of the auroral green line, the peak electron impact cross-section for O₂¹ production must be approximately 2 × 10^?17 cm².     

Contamination of ground-based measurements of OI (6300 Å) and NI (5200 Å) airglow by OH emissions

High resolution spectra of the 6300 Å and 5200 Å regions of the night sky have been obtained using a 1 m spectrometer. Typical errors in measurements of $\text{O}\text{(}{}^1\text{D}\text{)}$ 6300 Å and $\text{N}\text{(}{}^2\text{D}\text{)}$ 5200 Å intensities due to contanimation by overlapping OH emissions have been calculated for a fixed-filter photometer, a tilting-filter photometer and a spectrophotometer. The importance of careful selection of certain instrumental parameters in order to minimize measurement errors is emphasized.     

Distribution functions for energetic oxygen atoms in the earth's lower atmosphere

Direct photolysis of O₃ and quenching of $\text{O}\text{(}{}^1\text{D}\text{)}$ by N₂ provide abundant sources of fast oxygen atoms for the Earth's lower atmosphere. The concentration of atoms with energy above 0.7 eV may exceed the concentration of $\text{O}\text{(}{}^1\text{D}\text{)}$ for all altitudes below 18 km and these atoms may play an important role in lower atmospheric chemistry. Distribution functions for $\text{O}\text{(}{}^3\text{P}\text{)}$ are given for the energy interval 0.1-1.3 eV, for a range of altitudes from 0 to 62 km.     

The excitation of the 557.7 nm line and Herzberg bands in the nightglow

Measurements of the emission intensities of the 557.7 nm line and Herzberg bands and of O(³P) concentrations carried out on two coordinated rocket flights at South Uist during the night of 8/9 September 1975 are presented. An examination of the 557.7 nm emission and $\text{O}\text{(}{}^3\text{P}\text{)}$ data on the basis of recent data on relevant rate coefficients has shown that the results can be interpreted on the basis of the Barth mechanism for the production of $\text{O}\text{(}{}^1\text{S}\text{)}$ atoms but not the Chapman mechanism. Evidence is provided that the A³Σ⁺_u state of O₂ could be responsible for the $\text{O}\text{(}{}^1\text{S}\text{)}$ production in the Barth mechanism. Values of the rate coefficients involved are deduced from a comparison of the 557.7 nm and Herzberg emission rates.     

The locating of hydromagnetic whistler sources and determination of their generating proton spectra

Results are given of the calculations of the group delay time propagating τ(ω, φ₀) of hydromagnetic whistlers, using outer ionospheric models closely resembling actual conditions. The τ(ω, φ₀) dependencies were compared with the experimental data of τ_exp(ω, φ₀) obtained from sonagrams. The sonagrams were recorded in the frequency range $\text{? ? (0.5?2.5) Hz}$ at observation points located at geomagnetic latitudes φ₀ = (53?66)° and in the vicinity of the geomagnetic poles. This investigation has led us to new and important conclusions.The wave packets (W.P.) forming hydromagnetic whistlers (H.W.) are mainly generated in the plasma regions at L = 3.5?4.0. This is not consistent with ideas already expressed in the literature that their generation region is $\text{L ? 3?10}$. The overwhelming majority of the τ_exp values differ considerably from the times at which wave packets would, in theory, propagate along the magnetic field lines corresponding to those of the geomagnetic latitudes φ₀ of the observation points. The second important fact is that the W.P. frequency ω is less than $\text{Ω}{}_{\mathrm{H}}$ everywhere along its propagation trajectory, including the apogee of the magnetic force line ($\text{Ω}{}_{\mathrm{H}}$ is the proton gyrofrequency). Proton flux spectra $\text{E ? (30?120)}$ keV, responsible for H.W. generation, were determined. Comparison of the Explorer-45 and OGO-3 measurements published in the literature, with our data, showed that the proton flux density energy responsible for the H.W. excitation $\text{N}{}_{\mathrm{p}}\text{(}\text{MV}{}_6{}^2\text{2}\text{) ? (5 × 10}{}^{\mathrm{?3}}\text{?10}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}\text{)}\text{H}{}_{\mathrm{a}}{}^2\text{8π}$ where H_a is the magnetic field force in the generation region of these W.P. The electron concentration is $\text{N}{}_{\mathrm{a}}\text{? (10}{}^2\text{?10}{}^3\text{) cm}{}^{\mathrm{?3}}$. The values given in the literature are $\text{N}{}_{\mathrm{a}}\text{? (10}{}^{\mathrm{?10}}\text{?10}{}^3\text{) cm}{}^{\mathrm{?3}}$. The e data considered also leads to the conclusion that the generating mechanism of the W.P. studied probably always co-exists with the mechanism of their amplification.     

Aeronomical determination of the efficiency of O1D) production by dissociative recombination of O2+

Simultaneous measurements of the 6300 Å airglow intensity, the electron density profile, and F-region ion temperatures and vertical ion velocities taken at the Arecibo Observatory in March 1971 are utilized in the height integrated continuity equation to extract the number of photons'of 6300 Å emitted per recombination. After accounting for quenching of $\text{O}\text{(}{}^1\text{D}\text{)}$ and the electrons lost via NO⁺ recombination, the efficiency of $\text{O}\text{(}{}^1\text{D}\text{)}$ production by the dissociative recombination of O₂⁺ is determined to be 0.6 ± 0.2 including cascading from the $\text{O}\text{(}{}^1\text{S}\text{)}$ state. The uncertainty includes both random measurement errors and estimates of possible systematic errors.     

The 63 μm radiation field in the earth's thermosphere and its influence on the atomic hydrogen temperature

The thermal escape of hydrogen from the Earth's atmosphere is strongly affected by its temperature at the exobase. It has been suggested recently that the hydrogen temperature might be significantly lower than the thermospheric temperature as a result of a collisional exchange of energy with atomic oxygen. The tendency is to cool the hydrogen since the energy of the excited ${}^3\text{P}{}_1$ level of oxygen can be lost from the atmosphere via magnetic dipole emission of the 63 μm line (${}^3\text{P}{}_2\text{?}{}^3\text{P}{}_1$). We present here a detailed calculation of the net cooling effect as a function of altitude throughout the thermosphere. The calculations have been performed for both day and night conditions and for periods of maximum and minimum solar activity conditions. It is found that its effect on ΔT/T varies from a very small value to a maximum of ～3%. We also provide the theoretical framework for describing deviations of the 63 μm emission from local thermodynamic equilibrium and show that these effects can cause the emission to be reduced by as much as 40% near 500 km.     

Electric fields and potential patterns in the high-latitude ionosphere for different situations in interplanetary space

The potential ? of the electric field at high latitudes has been obtained by solving numerically the second order differential equation in spherical coordinates:

$\text{?}\text{1}\text{2}\text{(rσ}{}^{\mathrm{H}}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{\theta }}\text{)}{}_{\mathrm{\theta }}\text{+}\text{1}\text{r}\text{(σ}{}^{\mathrm{H}}\text{?λ)}{}_{\mathrm{\lambda }}\text{+}\text{1}\text{r}\text{(σ}{}^{\mathrm{P}}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{\lambda }}\text{)}{}_{\mathrm{\theta }}\text{?(σ}{}^{\mathrm{P}}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{\theta }}\text{)}{}_{\mathrm{\lambda }}\text{=}\text{1}\text{r}\text{(rψ}{}_{\mathrm{\theta }}\text{)}{}_{\mathrm{\theta }}\text{+}\text{1}\text{r}{}^2\text{ψ}{}_{\mathrm{\lambda \lambda }}$

, where θ is colatitude, λ is longitude, σ^H and σ^P are the height-integrated Hall and Perdersen ionospheric conductivities, r = sinθ, and ψ is the current function. The boundary condition is ? = 0 on the geomagnetic parallel θ = 34°. Values of ψ are determined from geomagnetic field variations at the Earth's surface from geomagnetic field variations at the Earth's surface for various conditions in interplanetary space. σ^P and σ^H are taken to vary with season, local time, tilt of the geomagnetic dipole axis (UT), and intensity of corpuscular precipitation (the model proposed by Wallis and Budzinski, 1981). The model distributions of ?^M and E^M = -▽?^m so obtained are compared with observational results. The feasibility has been demonstrated of interpreting the statistical results and individual measurement data in terms of a unified dynamic model of ionospheric electric fields. The model makes allowance for the changes of electromagnetic “weather” in interplanetary space.     

On fourier-analysis of geomagnetic pulsations pc-1, “two-fold” and “three-fold” pulsations pc-1 and fundamental frequencies of the magnetospheric cavity—I

The paper gives the results of detailed studies of the frequency spectra $\text{S}{}_{\mathrm{s}}\text{(?)}$ of the chain of the wave packets F_s(t) of geomagnetic pulsations PC-1 recorded at the Novolazarevskaya station. The bulk of the energy of F_s(t) is concentrated in the vicinity of the central frequencies $\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{s0}}$ of spectra—the carrier frequencies of the signals. The velocity $\text{V}{}_0\text{≌ 6.10}{}^3\text{km s}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ of the flux of protons generating these signals correspond to them. The spectra of the signals have oscillations—“satellites” irregularly distributed in frequency. These satellites, as the authors believe, testify to the presence of the individual groups of protons of low concentration whose velocities vary within 10³–10⁴ km s^?1.Their energy is only of the order of 10^?2–10^?3 of the energy of the main proton flux. Clearly pronounced maxima on double and triple frequencies $\text{? = 2?}{}_{\mathrm{s0}}\text{and}\text{3?}{}_{\mathrm{s0}}$ are detected. They show that the generation of pulsations PC-1 is accompanied by the generation on the overtones of wave packets called in this paper “two-fold” and “three-fold” pulsations PC-1. Intensive symmetrical satellites of a modulation character have been discovered on frequencies $\text{?}{}^{\mathrm{\pm }}{}_{\mathrm{sK}}$. Frequency differences $\text{Δ?}{}_{\mathrm{sK}}{}^{\mathrm{\pm }}\text{=}\text{¦?}{}_{\mathrm{s0}}\text{? ?}{}_{\mathrm{sK}}{}^{\mathrm{\pm }}\text{¦}\text{= (0.011,0.022}\text{and}\text{0.035)}\text{Hz}$ correspond to them. The authors believe that the values of Δ?^±_sK are resonance frequencies of the magnetospheric cavity in which geomagnetic pulsations PC-1 are generated. It is established that the values of Δ?^±_sK coincide closely with the carrier frequencies of geomagnetic pulsations PC-3 and PC-4 generated in the magnetosphere. This leads to the conclusion that the resonance oscillations of the magnetospheric cavity are their source. Thus, the generation of geomagnetic pulsations of different types and resonance oscillations in the magnetosphere are integrated into a unified process. The importance of the results obtained and the necessity to check further their trustworthiness and universality, using experimental data gathered in different conditions, is stressed.     

Direct measurement of conjugate photoelectrons and predawn 630 nm airglow

A sounding rocket was flown during the predawn on 17 January, 1976 from Uchinoura, Japan, to measure directly the behaviour of the conjugate photoelectrons at magnetically low latitudes. On board the rocket were an electron energy analyzer, 630 nm airglow photometer, and plasma probes to measure electron density and temperature. The incoming flux of the photoelectrons was measured in the altitude range between 210 and 340 km. The differential flux at the top of the atmosphere was determined to be $\text{F = (1.3 ± 0.4) × 10}{}^{11}\text{exp}\text{[?}\text{E(}\text{eV}\text{)}\text{12}\text{]}$ electron · m^?2 · sr^?1 · s^?1 in the energy range 10 ? E ? 50 eV. The emission rate of the 630 nm airglow was observed in the altitude range between 90 and 360 km. The apparent emission rate observed at 80 km was 32 ± 5 R. From a theoretical calculation of the optical excitation rate using the observed electron flux data along with a model distribution of atomic oxygen, it was estimated that more than 65% of the emission could be produced by direct impact of the photoelectrons with atomic oxygen in the thermosphere between 200 and 360 km. Using the observed electron density and the model distribution of oxygen molecules the residual of the emission was ascribed to the excitation of O(¹D) through dissociative recombination, $\text{O}{}_2{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+}\text{e}\text{→}\text{O}{}^1\text{+}\text{O}{}^7$. The direct collisional excitation by ambient electrons is estimated to be negligibly small at the level of observed electron temperature.     

A dynamical effect in the ionospheric f1 layer

Incoherent scatter observations of the ionospheric F₁ layer above Saint-Santin (44.6°N) are analyzed after correction of a systematic error at 165 and 180 km altitude. The daytime valley observed around 200 km during summer for low solar activity conditions is explained in terms of a downward ionization drift which reaches ?30 m s^?1 around 180 km. Experimental determinations of the ion drift confirm the theoretical characteristics required for the summer daytime valley as well as for the winter behaviour without a valley. The computations require an effective dissociative recombination rate of $\text{2.3 × 10}{}^{\mathrm{?7}}\text{(}\text{300/}\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{e}}\text{)}{}^{0.7}\text{(}\text{cm}{}^3\text{s}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}\text{)}$ and ionizing fluxes compatible with solar activity conditions at the time when the valley is observed.     

The near infrared nightglow continuum

A review is given of observations of the nightglow continuum extending from about 7000 Å to longer wavelengths. It is suggested that the source of this emission is radiative association of atomic oxygen via the repulsive ${}^3\text{Π}{}_{\mathrm{u}}$ state to vibrationally excited O₂(³Σ_g^?). Predicted spectra are compared with nightglow and laboratory observations. Other implications for the physics of the thermosphere and upper mesosphere are discussed.     

Charge exchange of metastable D oxygen ions with N2 in the thermosphere

Measurements of N₂⁺ and supporting data made on the Atmosphere Explorer-C satellite in the ionosphere are used to study the charge exchange process

$\text{O}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{(}{}^2\text{D}\text{)+}\text{N}{}_2\text{→}\text{k}\text{N}{}^{\mathrm{+}}{}_2\text{+}\text{O}$

The equality k = (5 ± 1.7) × 10^?10cm³s^?1. This value lies close to the lower limit of experimental uncertainty of the rate coefficient determined in the laboratory. We have also investigated atomic oxygen quenching of O⁺(²D) and find that the rate coefficient is 2 × 10^?11 cm³s^?1 to within approximately a factor of two.