Universität zu Köln

Richter, Heiko, Buchbender, Christof ORCID: 0000-0002-2064-7691, Guesten, Rolf, Higgins, Ronan, Klein, Bernd, Stutzki, Juergen, Wiesemeyer, Helmut and Huebers, Heinz-Wilhelm (2021). Direct measurements of atomic oxygen in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere using terahertz heterodyne spectroscopy. Commun. Earth Environ., 2 (1). LONDON: SPRINGERNATURE. ISSN 2662-4435

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Abstract

Atomic oxygen is a main component of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere of the Earth, where it governs photochemistry and energy balance and is a tracer for dynamical motions. However, its concentration is extremely difficult to measure with remote sensing techniques since atomic oxygen has few optically active transitions. Current indirect methods involve photochemical models and the results are not always in agreement, particularly when obtained with different instruments. Here we present direct measurements-independent of photochemical models-of the ground state P-3(1) -> P-3(2) fine-structure transition of atomic oxygen at 4.7448THz using the German Receiver for Astronomy at Terahertz Frequencies (GREAT) on board the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). We find that our measurements of the concentration of atomic oxygen agree well with atmospheric models informed by satellite observations. We suggest that this direct observation method may be more accurate than existing indirect methods that rely on photochemical models. Atomic oxygen concentrations in the upper atmosphere can be measured directly with an airborne terahertz heterodyne spectrometer. This approach is probably more accurate than indirect estimates from photochemical models, according to a comparison of the two methods.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Richter, Heiko UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Buchbender, Christof UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-2064-7691 UNSPECIFIED Guesten, Rolf UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Higgins, Ronan UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Klein, Bernd UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Stutzki, Juergen UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Wiesemeyer, Helmut UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Huebers, Heinz-Wilhelm UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-589206
DOI:	10.1038/s43247-020-00084-5
Journal or Publication Title:	Commun. Earth Environ.
Volume:	2
Number:	1
Date:	2021
Publisher:	SPRINGERNATURE
Place of Publication:	LONDON
ISSN:	2662-4435
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language MIDDLE; LINE; RECOMBINATION; REGION Multiple languages Environmental Sciences; Geosciences, Multidisciplinary; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/58920