Identification

Title

Seasonal variations of the nighttime O(¹S) and OH airglow emission rates at mid-to-high latitudes in the context of the large-scale circulation

Abstract

The seasonal climatology of the O(¹S) and OH nighttime airglow in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) for the mid-to-high latitude region is explored in the context of the large-scale general circulation. Multiple years of the Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII) satellite data from November 1991 to August 1997 are monthly averaged to depict the global patterns of the seasonal variations of the airglow volume emission rates for various altitudes and local times. These observations are compared with the simulations of the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIME-GCM). Both the WINDII and the TIME-GCM results display the semi-annual and annual variations of the O(¹S) and OH airglow emission rates for specific altitudes and local times. The TIME-GCM reproduces most of the emission variation signatures observed by WINDII, but provides additional information on vertical advection and downward mixing of atomic oxygen. The study indicates that vertical advection associated with the tides and the large-scale circulation plays a major role in the airglow seasonal variations. The annual influence of the large-scale circulation appears more clearly in the mesosphere than in the lower thermosphere, while the semi-annual variation occurs only in the lower thermosphere.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d74q7v5v

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2008-06-04T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright 2008 American Geophysical Union.

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata date

2025-07-17T15:57:40.310622

Metadata language

eng; USA