HR: 0800h
AN: SA51B-1139    [Abstracts]
TI: A new approach for daytime auroral observations
AU: * Lummerzheim, D
EM: lumm@gi.alaska.edu
AF: Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99775-7320 United States
AU: Zhou, X
EM: Xiaoyan.Zhou@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AU: Gunapala, S
EM: sarath.d.gunapala@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AB: The brightness of the sunlit atmosphere makes auroral observation very difficult. In the past, aurora in the sunlit atmosphere has been observed from space in the EUV and FUV wavelength range, and from the ground using high spectral resolution observations of the OI(630nm) line. We propose a new technique of auroral imaging in the near IR from high altitude balloons. The sky brightness diminishes as altitude and wavelength increases. Model calculations show that the bright auroral N_2⁺ Meinel emissions are comparable to the sunlit sky brightness above 45~km altitude. We will discuss the possibilities of daylight auroral observations and present examples of ground based nighttime and twilight auroral images that were obtained in the near IR wavelength range.
DE: 0310 Airglow and aurora
DE: 0394 Instruments and techniques
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005