Atomic oxygen ion retrieval from 630.0 nm airglow during geomagnetically quiet periods: a mid-latitude case study near Irkutsk

• Published in: Geoscience letters 2024-12, Vol.11 (1), p.55-20, Article 55
• Main Authors: Duann, Y., Chang, L. C., Chiu, Y.-C., Salinas, C. C. J. H., Dmitriev, A. V., Ratovsky, K. G., Medvedeva, I. V., Vasilyev, R., Mikhalev, A. V., Liu, J. Y., Lin, C. H., Fang, T.-W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Airglow; Atmospheric Sciences; Atomic oxygen; Biogeosciences; COSMIC; DPS; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Electron density; Geomagnetism; Geophysics/Geodesy; Ion density (concentration); Ionosphere; Ionosphere F; Latitude; Oceanography; Oxygen; Oxygen ions; Photochemicals; Photochemistry; Planetology; Region; Research Letter; Retrieval; Seasonal variation; Seasonal variations
• ISSN: 2196-4092; 2196-4092
• DOI: 10.1186/s40562-024-00370-6

This study develops and validates three photochemical inversion models to retrieve atomic oxygen ion density ([O + ]) profiles from 630.0 nm airglow emissions in the mid-latitude ionosphere during geomagnetically quiet period. Using passive ground-based instruments and empirical models, the models were tested and compared against electron density data from FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC (F3/C) and DPS-4 digisonde at Irkutsk. Among the models, Inversion Model 3 showed the strongest agreement with observations, particularly in capturing seasonal variations such as the June–July peak and a secondary March–April peak, which were absent in IRI-2012 predictions. These results highlight the potential of Inversion Model 3 for accurate [O + ] retrieval, offering a novel approach for monitoring ionospheric variability using passive photometric observations.