On the sodium D line emission in the terrestrial nightglow

Details On the sodium D line emission in the terrestrial nightglow On the sodium D line emission in the terrestrial nightglow

Jan 2012

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2012jastp..74..181p&link_type=abstract

Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, Volume 74, p. 181-188.

Physics

Scientific paper

Emission from atomic Na, consisting of a doublet of lines at 589.0 and 589.6 nm, is a prominent feature of the earth’s nightglow. A large data-base of measurements of the relative intensities of the D lines (RD) was gathered at three locations: the ALOMAR observatory, Andenes (Norway, 69°N), Kuujjuarapik (Canada, 55°N) and the Danum Valley (Borneo, 8°N). RD varies between 1.5 and 2.0, with an average value of 1.67. These results were interpreted using a theoretical model of the Na nightglow which involves initial production of electronically excited NaO(A2Σ) from the reaction between Na and O3, followed either by reaction with O to generate Na(2PJ) with a branching ratio of 1/6 and a J=3/2 to 1/2 propensity of 2.0, or quenching of NaO(A) to NaO(X2Π) by O2. The resulting NaO(X) then reacts with O to generate Na(2PJ) with a branching ratio of 1/6 and a J=3/2 to 1/2 propensity of 1.5. These branching ratios and spin-orbit propensities are derived from statistical correlation of the electronic potential energy surfaces connecting the reactants NaO(A)+O and NaO(X)+O with the products Na+O2, through the Na+O2- ion-pair intermediate. A fit of this statistical model to the results of an earlier laboratory study (Slanger et al., 2005), where RD was measured as a function of the ratio [O]/[O2], indicates that the rate coefficient for the quenching of NaO(A) by O2 is around 1×10-11 cm3 molecule-1 s-1. The statistical model is also in good accord with recent high resolution observations of the Na D line widths (Harrell et al., 2010). An atmospheric model is then used to show that gravity wave-driven perturbations to the Na layer can account for the observed variability of RD.

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