HR: 17:35h
AN: SA24A-06    [Abstracts]
TI: New observations of upper mesospheric OH Prompt emission from two satellites: Direct measurements of water vapor
AU: * Stevens, M H
EM: michael.stevens@nrl.navy.mil
AF: Code 7641, E.O. Hulburt Center for Space Research Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375, United States
AU: Gumbel, J
EM: gumbel@misu.su.se
AF: Meteorological Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 10691, Sweden
AU: Khaplanov, M
EM: misha@misu.su.se
AF: Meteorological Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 10691, Sweden
AU: Witt, G
EM: gwitt@misu.su.se
AF: Meteorological Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 10691, Sweden
AU: Gattinger, R L
EM: gattinger@rogers.com
AF: Department of Physics and Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK , Canada
AU: Llewellyn, E J
EM: edward.llewellyn@usask.ca
AF: Department of Physics and Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK , Canada
AU: Degenstein, D A
EM: doug.degenstein@usask.ca
AF: Department of Physics and Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK , Canada
AB: Satellite measurements of mesospheric water vapor provide important constraints to global-scale dynamical models of the Earth's upper atmosphere. One measurement approach is to observe hydroxyl (OH) prompt emission between 300-330 nm, which can be produced directly from the photolysis of water vapor by solar Lyman-α. Identification of this relatively weak non-thermal emission requires a rigorous understanding of the Earth's airglow between 300-330 nm, including the spectrally complex Rayleigh scattered background and OH(0,0) solar resonance fluorescence. Here we present the first satellite observations of mesospheric OH prompt emission from two limb sounding experiments: the Middle Atmosphere High Resolution Spectrograph Investigation (MAHRSI) and the Optical Spectrograph and Infra-Red Imaging System (OSIRIS). MAHRSI flew twice on a satellite deployed and retrieved by the space shuttle in 1994 and 1997, measuring OH(0,0) solar resonance fluorescence near 309 nm at a spectral resolution of 0.02 nm. OSIRIS was launched on the Odin satellite in 2001 and the airglow measurements between 280-810 nm include both OH(0,0) and (1,1) solar fluorescence at a lower spectral resolution of 1 nm. We will compare the two sets of OH prompt observations under similar geophysical conditions, retrieve vertical profiles of water vapor and compare them to other available water vapor measurements. Emphasis will be placed on the potential of this technique compared with other more traditional approaches to measuring mesospheric water vapor.
DE: 0310 Airglow and aurora
DE: 0340 Middle atmosphere: composition and chemistry
DE: 0360 Radiation: transmission and scattering
DE: 3359 Radiative processes
DE: 3394 Instruments and techniques
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly