Retrieval of Atomic Oxygen and Temperature in the Thermosphere. 2. Feasibility of an Experiment Based on Limb Emission in the Lines
Abstract
A viable technique for remote sensing of the atomic oxygen density a nd translational temperature profiles above 80 km altitude, where oxygen atoms are involved in important chemical, collisional and radiative cooling processes, would have enormous value. The two profiles can, in principle, be recovered simultaneously value. The two profiles can, in principle, be recovered simultaneously from limb scan data obtained near wave length 147 um and/or 63 um, corresponding to the intermultiplet transitions in the ground electronic state of atomic oxygen. Part 1 of this report considered an approach in which the limb radiance data represents just one of the lines observed at high spectral resolution; recovery of the temperature relies mainly on Doppler broadening. Here, in Part 2, we evaluate feasibility of the experiment concept when the data is a pair of limb radiance profiles corresponding to the two unresolved OI lines; temperature retrieval relies mostly on the difference in upper state populations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 30, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA211807
Entities
People
- A. S. Zachor
- B. K. Yap