CO2(v2)-O quenching rate coefficient derived from coincidental SABER/TIMED and Fort Collins lidar observations of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere

Among the processes governing the energy balance in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT), the quenching of CO₂(v₂) vibrational levels by collisions with O atoms plays an important role. However, there is a factor of 3-4 discrepancy between the laboratory measurements of the CO₂-O quenching rate coefficient, kVT, and its value estimated from the atmospheric observations. In this study, we retrieve kVT in the altitude region 85-105 km from the coincident SABER/TIMED and Fort Collins sodium lidar observations by minimizing the difference between measured and simulated broadband limb 15 μm radiation. The averaged kVT value obtained in this work is 6.5 ± 1.5 × 10-12 cm3 s⁻¹ that is close to other estimates of this coefficient from the atmospheric observations. However, the retrieved kVT also shows altitude dependence and varies from 5.5 ± 1.1 × 10-12 cm3 s⁻¹ at 90 km to 7.9 ± 1.2 × 10-12 cm³ s⁻¹ at 105 km. Obtained results demonstrate the deficiency in current non-LTE modeling of the atmospheric 15 μm radiation, based on the application of the CO₂-O quenching and excitation rates, which are linked by the detailed balance relation. We discuss the possible model improvements, among them accounting for the interaction of the "non-thermal" oxygen atoms with CO₂ molecules.

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Copyright Author(s) 2012. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.


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Author Feofilov, A.
Kutepov, A.
She, C.-Y.
Smith, Anne
Pesnell, W.
Goldberg, R.
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2012-10-02T00:00:00
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Topic Category geoscientificInformation
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Metadata Date 2023-08-18T18:53:18.296886
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:12255
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Feofilov, A., Kutepov, A., She, C.-Y., Smith, Anne, Pesnell, W., Goldberg, R.. (2012). CO2(v2)-O quenching rate coefficient derived from coincidental SABER/TIMED and Fort Collins lidar observations of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. UCAR/NCAR - Library. http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7sx6f07. Accessed 13 February 2025.

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