Daytime Laser Radar Measurements of the Atmospheric Sodium Layer

Computer Science

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

9

Scientific paper

IT is generally accepted that the column density (abundance) of atomic sodium in the layer at about 90 km altitude is enhanced during the day by a factor of 2 to 6 relative to that at twilight. The evidence for the enhancement is chiefly provided by ground-based observations of the sodium D line dayglow1-5, but there has been some discussion4-6 of the possibility that the ring effect (the partial filling of the Fraunhofer lines in scattered sunlight) may have affected the measurements. Observations of the dayglow during 6 rocket flights7-9 and spectrometer observations of the absorption of direct sunlight by sodium10-12 have produced various conflicting results concerning the daytime enhancement. Recently, however, Burnett et al.13 have published the results of absorption measurements at latitude 26° N giving daytime abundances which, when compared with twilight measurements made at a similar latitude some years previously, are clearly much lower than would be expected if the enhancement were present. In an independent effort to resolve the question of the daytime enhancement we have developed further the technique of resonance scattering from a laser pulse tuned to the D line14 to measure the sodium concentration during the day. Our previous measurements15,16 have shown that the night-time abundance is within 20% of that at twilight and we now find no evidence of a daytime enhancement.

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

Daytime Laser Radar Measurements of the Atmospheric Sodium Layer 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 Daytime Laser Radar Measurements of the Atmospheric Sodium Layer, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Daytime Laser Radar Measurements of the Atmospheric Sodium Layer will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1816820

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