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:
CreatorsEmailORCIDORCID Put Code
Richter, HeikoUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Buchbender, ChristofUNSPECIFIEDorcid.org/0000-0002-2064-7691UNSPECIFIED
Guesten, RolfUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Higgins, RonanUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Klein, BerndUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Stutzki, JuergenUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Wiesemeyer, HelmutUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Huebers, Heinz-WilhelmUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
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:
KeywordsLanguage
MIDDLE; LINE; RECOMBINATION; REGIONMultiple languages
Environmental Sciences; Geosciences, Multidisciplinary; Meteorology & Atmospheric SciencesMultiple languages
URI: http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/58920

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