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Space shuttle observations of collisionally excited outgassed water vapor
Author(s) -
Dean D. A.,
Huppi E. R.,
Smith D. R.,
Nadile R. M.,
Zhou D. K.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/94gl00200
Subject(s) - radiance , space shuttle , excited state , water vapor , infrared , environmental science , physics , remote sensing , atomic physics , meteorology , optics , astronomy , geology
The analysis of CIRRIS 1A (Cryogenic InfraRed Radiance Instrumentation for Shuttle) interferometric and radiometric data obtained during the flight of STS‐39 (28 Apr–6 May 1991) reveals the presence of IR emission in the 400–900 cm −1 (11–25 μm) region not attributable to atmospheric emission. In this paper, data are shown which identify the signal as near‐field water vapor present during all CIRRIS 1A observations. Variability of the near‐field water vapor emissions is characterized, and further investigation indicates that the water is excited to high effective temperatures, possibly in excess of 2000 K. The data presented support the conclusion that water outgassed from the shuttle tiles is highly excited by collisions with atmospheric O, classifying it as a type of shuttle‐induced glow whose spectrum has never previously been measured in the LWIR. Measured results are compared to current models which predict radiance for collisionally excited outgassed molecules.