Studies Related to the Terrestrial Lower Thermosphere and Ionosphere

这项工作结合了实验室研究、大气NO发射器红外参数的计算，以及莫纳克亚山上凯克10米望远镜对夜光天空光谱的分析，显示了通常只与日光或极光相关的特征。在实验室工作中，pi计划调查O2的上层状态是否亚稳态，特别是在高振动水平。根据最近的电子散射测量，预计在极光中电子撞击会大量产生两个NO亚稳态。因为这两种状态都是红外主动的，它们应该有助于在极光和干扰环境中发射红外。pi计划计算这些状态的红外辐射参数。凯克望远镜的天空光谱有望提供新的信息。对元素钾和原子氧在7774 A和8446 A的跃迁的探测表明，通常与白天辉光有关的特征在晚上也可以观察到，尽管强度要低得多。pi计划确定这些特征的时间变异性，并对其强度进行建模，以便在与目前研究的完全不同的条件下阐明它们的产生机制。

This work is a combination of laboratory studies, calculation of infrared parameters for atmospheric NO emitters, and analysis of nightglow sky spectra made by the Keck 10-meter telescope on Mauna Kea, showing features normally associated only with dayglow or aurora. In the laboratory work, the PIs plan to investigate whether the upper state of the O2 metastable states, particularly in high vibrational levels. Two NO metastable states are expected to be copiously generated in aurorae by electron impact, based on recent electron scattering measurements. Because both of these states are infrared-active, they should contribute to infrared emission in auroral and disturbed environments. The PIs plan to calculate the IR radiative parameters for these states. The sky spectra from the Keck telescope are expected to provide new information. Detection of elemental potassium and the atomic oxygen transitions at 7774 A and 8446 A has shown that features normally associated with the dayglow are also observable at night, although with far lower intensities. The PIs plan to determine the temporal variability of these features and to model their intensities in order to clarify their production mechanisms under conditions quite different from those studied until now.