Airglow and Auroral Studies of the Earth's Upper Atmosphere

提出了一个高层大气动力学研究计划，包括在匹兹堡大学、秘鲁阿雷基波的赤道气辉天文台和马萨诸塞州中纬度的磨石山天文台进行研究。通过升级的法布里-珀罗干涉仪（FPI）仪器，将确定多普勒频移和夜光发射线的宽度，以获得速度和温度。fpi既有传统的设计，也有全天的设计，利用CCD探测器提供了大大提高的灵敏度。精确的多普勒频移将由零速度参考源提供，要么使用PIs新开发的氧余辉参考源（OARS），该参考源发出禁止的OI 630.0和557.7 nm线，要么使用更便携式的次级标准源，将根据OARS标准进行干涉校准。提高的精度将允许精确测定（小）垂直速度，补充通常的水平速度测定，以提供热层流动的三维特征。对于秘鲁的赤道测量，FPI的新多波长能力将扩大正在进行的630 nm高层热层动力学研究，包括中流层风和通过OH （731.6 nm）夜光线研究确定的温度。Millstone Hill的全天空FPI将用于通过使用557.7 nm和630.0 nm气辉发射对中纬度低层和高层热层的风场和温度场进行连续测定，来检查中纬度低层和高层热层之间的耦合效应。在这两个纬度，中性动力学结果可以与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.