Airglow and Auroral Studies of the Earth's Upper Atmosphere

高层大气动力学研究计划的建议，涉及在匹兹堡大学的工作，在赤道气辉天文台在阿雷基波亚，秘鲁，并在中纬度Millstone山天文台在马萨诸塞州。将通过升级的法布里-珀罗干涉仪（FPI）仪器确定夜光发射线的多普勒频移和宽度，以获得速度和温度。FPI采用传统设计和全天空设计，利用CCD探测器大大提高了灵敏度。多普勒频移的准确测定将由零速度参考源提供，使用PI新开发的氧余辉参考源（OARS），发射禁止的OI 630.0和557.7 nm线，或由更便携的二级标准源，将根据OARS标准进行干涉校准。提高的精度将允许精确地确定（小的）垂直速度，补充通常的水平速度确定，以提供热层流动的三维特征。FPI的多波长能力将扩大目前正在进行的630纳米高温层动力学研究的范围，使其包括通过OH确定中层顶风和温度（731.6 nm）夜光线研究。Millstone Hill的全天空FPI将用于研究中纬度热层下部和上部之间的耦合效应，方法是利用557.7纳米和630.0纳米气辉发射依次确定它们的风场和温度场。在这两个纬度上，中性动力学的结果可以与Jicamarca或Millstone Hill非相干散射雷达获得的电离层动力学测量结果进行比较。

A program of upper atmosphere dynamics studies is proposed that involves work at the University of Pittsburgh, at the equatorial Airglow Observatory in Arequipoa, Peru, and at the midlatitude Millstone Hill Observatory in Massachusetts. Determinations of Doppler shifts and widths of nightglow emission lines will be made by upgraded Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) instruments to yield velocities and temperatures. The FPIs are of both conventional and all-sky designs that make use of CCD detectors to provide greatly improved sensitivity. Accurate determinations of the Doppler shifts will be provided by zero velocity reference sources, either using the PIs newly developed oxygen afterglow reference source (OARS) that emits the forbidden OI 630.0 and 557.7 nm lines or by more portable Secondary Standard sources that will be interferometrically calibrated against the OARS standard. The improved precision will permit accurate determinations of the (small) vertical velocities, supplementing the usual horizontal velocity determinations to provide a 3-dimensional characterization of the thermospheric flow.For the equatorial measurements in Peru, the new, multi-wavelength capability of the FPI will broaden the ongoing 630 nm studies of upper thermosphere dynamics to include mesopause wind and temperature determinations via OH (731.6 nm) nightglow line studies. The all-sky FPI at Millstone Hill will be used to examine coupling effects between the midlatitude lower and upper thermosphere by sequential determinations of their wind and temperature fields using the 557.7 nm and 630.0 nm airglow emissions. At both latitudes, the neutral dynamics results can be compared to the ionospheric dynamics measurements obtained by either the Jicamarca or the Millstone Hill incoherent scatter radar.