HR: 0800h
AN: SA31A-1109    [Abstracts]
TI: In-Situ Measurements of Atomic Oxygen in the MLT Region: The ATOX Resonance Fluorescence/Absorption sensor
AU: * Patterson, P
EM: patp@sdl.usu.edu
AF: Space Dynamics Lab, 1695 North Research Parkway, Logan, UT 84341 United States
AU: Swenson, C
EM: charles.swenson@ece.usu.edu
AF: Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, 4120 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322 United States
AU: Gregory, J
EM: jessica.gregory@sdl.usu.edu
AF: Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, 4120 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322 United States
AB: The Utah State University Atomic Oxygen sensor (ATOX) was launched aboard the Coupling of Dynamics and Aurora (CODA) payloads on January 22, 1999 from Poker Flat, Alaska and again on February 21, 2001, both into diffuse auroras. Atomic oxygen profiles were measured in-situ by a combination of resonance and florescence techniques. While a comparison of the data reveals significant structural differences between the two flights, a deeper investigation provides some insight into the inherent obstacles from which the resonant fluorescent/absorption technique suffers. Density flow field disturbances from the rocket motion shock effect and spin stabilization, Doppler shifts, fluctuations in lamp output, and variations in photometer sensitivity due to temperature change and contamination seem to be the primary contributors. Analysis shows that most if not all of these obstacles contribute to the degraded accuracy of the collected data. A comparison of each data set with atmospheric models and previously made measurements show good agreement on a large scale, a deeper investigation into its design and operation suggests modifications to the sensor and the data analysis technique may produce data with much higher accuracies.
DE: 2494 Instruments and techniques
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting