Abstract
WINDII, the Wind Imaging Interferometer on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), has been in orbit since September, 1991 and by 1995 had accumulated more than 14 million images of the upper atmosphere. It employs Doppler imaging using a Michelson interferometer and CCD camera to obtain winds, temperatures and volume emission rates of selected airglow emissions in the visible and near-IR covering the altitude range 80 to 300 km. In this paper we first present wind and emission rate measurements from the O(1S) 557.7 nm night airglow emission resulting from the recombination of atomic oxygen. From these data atmospheric tides have been found to have a profound influence on the distribution of atomic oxygen. A strong longitudinal modulation in winds and emission rate has been found as well, indicating large scale planetary disturbances in atomic oxygen. Observations of daytime 557.7 nm green line emission are then presented, which arise mainly from solar EUV excitation. From these data one can see the response of the green line emission to the solar flux, as well as planetary scale disturbances. During the daytime, scattering from polar mesospheric clouds provides further evidence for the strong dynamics of this region of the atmosphere.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.