Atmospheric dayglow diagnostics involving the O 2 ( b‐X ) Atmospheric band emission: Global Oxygen and Temperature (GOAT) mapping

The terrestrial dayglow displays prominent emission features from the 0‐0 and 1‐1 bands of the O 2 Atmospheric band system in the 760–780 nm region. We present an analysis of observations in this wavelength region recorded by the Space Shuttle during the Arizona Airglow Experiment. A major conclusion is that the dominant product of O( 1 D ) + O 2 energy transfer is O 2 ( b , v  = 1), a result that corroborates our previous laboratory studies. Moreover, critical to the interpretation of dayglow is the possible interference by N 2 and N 2 + bands in the 760–780 nm region, where the single‐most important component is the N 2 1PG 3–1 band that overlaps with the O 2 ( b‐X ) 0‐0 band. When present, this background must be accounted for to reveal the O 2 ( b‐X ) 0‐0 and 1‐1 bands for altitudes at which the O 2 and N 2 /N 2 + emissions coincide. Finally, we exploit the very different collisional behavior of the two lowest O 2 ( b ) vibrational levels to outline a remote sensing technique that provides information on Atmospheric composition and temperature from space‐based observations of the 0‐0 and 1‐1 O 2 atmospheric bands.