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The detection of the hydroxyl nightglow layer in the mesosphere by ISAMS/UARS
Author(s) -
Zaragoza G.,
LópezPuertas M.,
LópezValverde M. Á.,
Taylor F. W.
Publication year - 1998
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 - 10.1029/98gl51841
Subject(s) - mesosphere , airglow , radiance , atmospheric sciences , mesopause , satellite , environmental science , atmosphere (unit) , remote sensing , meteorology , stratosphere , physics , geology , astronomy
Measurements of night‐time radiance near 4.6 µm by the ISAMS instrument on board the UARS satellite exhibit an enhancement in the upper mesosphere. We show in this work that this increase around 85 km tangent height is due to the OH(9–8) and OH(8–7) Meinel bands. The ISAMS database therefore contains valuable information on the variability over a seasonal cycle of the OH high vibrational populations from which the chemical heating of the upper mesosphere can be derived.