Remote Sensing of Thermospheric Atomic Oxygen or Temperature Using NO Radiances from TIMED/SABER and SNOE

A major mechanism for vibrational excitation of NO in the thermosphere is collisional energy transfer from atomic oxygen, NO(v=0) + O -> NO(v=1) + O. Emission from NO(v=1) produces the bright 5.3 micron band. At altitudes where this process dominates vibrational excitation during daylight or aurora, a relationship exists between atomic oxygen and ground state NO densities and temperature (due to the strong temperature dependence of the rate coefficient for vibrational excitation). Simultaneous measurements of ground state NO density, NO 5.3 micron volume emission rate, and either temperature or atomic oxygen density, would enable determination of the remaining quantity. This could provide a powerful remote sensing technique for temperature or atomic oxygen for altitudes where their determination is presently difficult. We present retrievals using combined SABER 5.3 micron radiation and SNOE fluorescent scattering measurements, and examine the effect of various NO + O reaction rates.