Terrestrial OH nightglow measurements during the Rosetta flyby
Abstract
We present a study of the terrestrial hydroxyl nightglow emissions observed with the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer on board the Rosetta mission. During these observations, the OH Δv = 1 and 2 sequences were measured simultaneously. This allowed investigating the relative population of the v = 1 to 9 vibrational levels by using both sequences. In particular, the relative population of the vibrational level v = 1 is determined for the first time from observations. The vibrational population decreases with increasing vibrational quantum number. A good agreement is found with a recent model calculation assuming multiquantum relaxation for OH(v) quenching by O2 and single-quantum relaxation for OH(v) by N2.
- Publication:
-
Geophysical Research Letters
- Pub Date:
- July 2015
- DOI:
- 10.1002/2015GL064485
- Bibcode:
- 2015GeoRL..42.5670M
- Keywords:
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- hydroxyl;
- Earth;
- Rosetta