Most prominent airglow night at El Leoncito

In our data set of presently more than 750 nights of OH and O 2 airglow observations at lower mid-latitudes, the night of April 25, 1999 stands out for several reasons: the greatest mean O 2 intensity we have ever observed and by far the strongest quasi-monochromatic gravity wave signature in OH int...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of atmospheric and solar-terrestrial physics 2002-05, Vol.64 (8), p.1175-1181
Main Authors: Scheer, J, Reisin, E.R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Airglow
Atmospheric dynamics
Day-to-day variations
Mesopause region
PSMOS
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Summary:In our data set of presently more than 750 nights of OH and O 2 airglow observations at lower mid-latitudes, the night of April 25, 1999 stands out for several reasons: the greatest mean O 2 intensity we have ever observed and by far the strongest quasi-monochromatic gravity wave signature in OH intensity (with period of about 38 min ), accompanied by a prominent day-to-day variation in O 2 intensity, and a strong tidal signature simultaneously present in intensities and temperatures at both emission heights. Whereas gravity wave events like this are relatively rare at our site, the slower variations are obviously regular features, similar to what we have seen on other occasions. The quantitative details of the observed phenomena are analyzed in order to establish possible relationships. We conclude from comparison with similar cases that high nocturnal means are frequently accompanied by strong gravity wave signatures, but not generally by strong tidal activity. Finally, different potential mechanisms, including solitons, are briefly reviewed.
ISSN:1364-6826
1879-1824
DOI:10.1016/S1364-6826(02)00067-6