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absolute concentrations of O(³P) in the lower thermosphere at night
Author(s) -
Sharp W. E.
Publication year - 1980
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/gl007i007p00485
Subject(s) - rocket (weapon) , payload (computing) , calibration , thermosphere , physics , photon , environmental science , detector , satellite , remote sensing , optics , atomic physics , ionosphere , aerospace engineering , geology , astronomy , computer science , computer network , quantum mechanics , network packet , engineering
A rocket borne instrument module for detecting atomic oxygen concentrations by the resonance fluorescence technique is reported. The module contained a source lamp emitting OI 1304Å photons and a detector for the scattered photons. The module was constructed so that it could be coupled to a fast flow reactor for calibration purposes. During the flight the module was radially deployed from the payload on an oscillating boom with a maximum extension of 90 cm from the skin. Analysis of the initial flight data indicates that the shock formed by the motion of the rocket had a substantial effect on the data and the maximum concentration of the layer at 93 km was about 1.1 × 10 11 cm −3 .