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Utah State University

Airglow

1998

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Physics

Application Of Tomographic Inversion In Studying Airglow In The Mesopause Region, T. Nygren, Michael J. Taylor, M. S. Lehtinen, M. Markkanen Apr 1998

Application Of Tomographic Inversion In Studying Airglow In The Mesopause Region, T. Nygren, Michael J. Taylor, M. S. Lehtinen, M. Markkanen

All Physics Faculty Publications

It is pointed out that observations of periodic nightglow structures give excellent information on atmospheric gravity waves in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. The periods, the horizontal wavelengths and the phase speeds of the waves can be determined from airglow images and, using several cameras, the approximate altitude of the luminous layer can also be determined by triangulation. In this paper the possibility of applying tomographic methods for reconstructing the airglow structures is investigated using numerical simulations. A ground-based chain of cameras is assumed, two-dimensional airglow models in the vertical plane above the chain are constructed, and simulated data are …


Dynamic And Chemical Aspects Of The Mesospheric Na ‘Wall’ Event On 9 October 1993 During The Aloha Campaign, G. R. Swenson, J. Qian, J. M.C. Plane, P. J. Espy, Michael J. Taylor, D. N. Turnbull, R. P. Lowe Apr 1998

Dynamic And Chemical Aspects Of The Mesospheric Na ‘Wall’ Event On 9 October 1993 During The Aloha Campaign, G. R. Swenson, J. Qian, J. M.C. Plane, P. J. Espy, Michael J. Taylor, D. N. Turnbull, R. P. Lowe

All Physics Faculty Publications

On October 9, 1993, observations were made from the National Center for Atmospheric Research Electra aircraft during a flight from Maui, Hawaii, toward a low-pressure system NW of the island, a flight of 7 hours in total. The leading edge (wall) of a bright airglow layer was observed 900 km NW of Maui at 0815 UT, which was traveling at 75 m s−1 toward the SE, reaching Haleakala, Maui, about 3.25 hours later [see Swenson and Espy, 1995]. An intriguing feature associated with the event was the large increase in the mesospheric Na column density at the wall (∼180%). The …


Observational Limits For Lidar, Radar And Airglow Imager Measurements Of Gravity Wave Parameters, C. S. Gardner, Michael J. Taylor Mar 1998

Observational Limits For Lidar, Radar And Airglow Imager Measurements Of Gravity Wave Parameters, C. S. Gardner, Michael J. Taylor

All Physics Faculty Publications

By examining the observational limits and biases for lidar, radar, and airglow imager measurements of middle atmosphere gravity waves, we provide plausible explanations for the characteristics of the monochromatic wave parameters that have been reported during the past decade. The systematic dependencies of vertical and horizontal wavelength on wave period, reported in many lidar and some radar studies, are associated with diffusive damping. The prominent waves with the largest amplitudes, most often observed by lidars and radars, are those with vertical phase speeds near the diffusive damping limit. The narrow range of horizontal phase velocities of the waves seen by …