Analysis of the Ultraviolet Emissions of Nitric Oxide from Mid-Latitude Rocket Observations

Abstract

Ultraviolet emissions of the Earth's ionosphere in the wavelength range of 2000 A to 2500 A are analyzed. These data were obtained by a rocket- borne spectrograph flown on March 30, 1990 from the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The gamma and epsilon bands of nitric oxide dominate this portion of the spectrum. Column densities of nitric oxide are determined by fitting eleven of the most prominent bands with synthetic spectra. Additionally, a temperature profile is found between the altitudes of 145 km and 195 km. From the data, corrections to the Franck-Condon factors are determined for three v (Z primes) progressions of the nitric oxide gamma bands.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1990
Accession Number
ADA237340

Entities

People

  • Michael J. Clayton

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Altitude
  • Angular Momentum
  • Detectors
  • Electron Density
  • Electrons
  • Emission
  • Ionization
  • Ionizing Radiation
  • Ionosphere
  • Measurement
  • Quantum Mechanics
  • Quantum Numbers
  • Spectra
  • Spectroscopy
  • Temperature Gradients
  • United States
  • United States Naval Academy

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Molecular Photonics/Laser Physics
  • Space/Atmospheric Physics.
  • Spectroscopy.