A study of oxygen 6300 Å airglow production through chemical modification of the nighttime ionosphere

Computer Science – Sound

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

14

Atmospheric Composition And Structure: Airglow And Aurora, Ionosphere: Ion Chemistry And Composition, Ionosphere: Active Experiments

Scientific paper

The Release Experiments to Derive Airglow Inducing Reactions (RED AIR) conducted on April 3, 1989, and December 6, 1991, offer a unique set of observations for studying the specific processes associated with the production of the O(3P--1D) emission at 6300 Å. In these experiments, sounding rockets were used to place equal quantities of CO2 above and below hmax of the nocturnal F region. CO2 leads to 6300 Å emission by a three-step process: (1) CO2+O+->O2++CO, (2) O2++e-->O*+O, (3)O*->O+hν6300. Direct measurements of plasma parameters and indirect measurements of the neutral atmosphere densities were used in conjunction with the Fluid Element Simulation (FES) computer code to model the temporal and spatial evolution of the observed 6300 Å airglow enhancement and accompanying plasma depletion. Using the currently accepted set of reaction rates relevant to F region chemistry, the quantum yield of O(1D) from reaction (2) was found to have a mild altitude dependence, decreasing by 16% from 275 to 350 km. Since the initial vibrational distribution of the nascent O2+ was the same for the two releases, this result implies an altitude dependence in the quenching of O2+ vibrational states. Building on previous evidence that O2+ is vibrationally excited in the nighttime thermosphere, we further conclude that this vibrational distribution is altitude dependent. In terms of 6300 Å airglow production, the effect is manifested in an altitude dependence of f(1D). Additionally, quenching by O(3P) was found to contribute very little to the depopulation of the nascent O(1D), with Q0=0 giving the best fit to the RED AIR observations.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

A study of oxygen 6300 Å airglow production through chemical modification of the nighttime ionosphere does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with A study of oxygen 6300 Å airglow production through chemical modification of the nighttime ionosphere, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and A study of oxygen 6300 Å airglow production through chemical modification of the nighttime ionosphere will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-994144

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.