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www.atmos-chem-phys.net/11/9595/2011/
doi:10.5194/acp-11-9595-2011
© Author(s) 2011. This work is distributed
under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
The observation of chemiluminescent NiO* emissions in the laboratory and in the night airglow
1Northwest Research Associates Inc., 4118 148 Avenue N.E., Redmond, WA 98052, USA
2Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
3ISAS, Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, 116 Science Place, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2, Canada
4Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, 1629 E. University Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85721-0092, USA
Abstract. The recent finding of an orange spectral feature in OSIRIS/Odin spectra of the night airglow near 87 km has raised interest in the origin of the emission. The feature was positively identified as the chemiluminescent FeO* emission where the iron is of meteoric origin. Since the meteorite source of atomic metals in the mesosphere contains both iron and nickel, with Ni being typically 6 % of Fe, it is expected that faint emissions involving Ni should also be present in the night airglow. The present study summarizes the laboratory observations of chemiluminescent NiO* emissions and includes a search for the NiO* signature in the night airglow. A very faint previously unidentified "continuum" extending longwave of 440 nm has been detected in the night airglow spectra obtained with two space-borne limb viewing instruments. Through a comparison with laboratory spectra this continuum is identified as arising from the NiO* emission. The altitude profile of the new airglow emission has also been measured. The similarity of the altitude profiles of the FeO* and NiO* emissions also suggests the emission is NiO as both can originate from reaction of the metal atoms with mesospheric ozone. The observed NiO* to FeO* ratio exhibits considerable variability; possible causes of this observed variation are briefly discussed.
Final Revised Paper (PDF, 346 KB) Discussion Paper (ACPD)
Citation: Evans, W. F. J., Gattinger, R. L., Broadfoot, A. L., and Llewellyn, E. J.: The observation of chemiluminescent NiO* emissions in the laboratory and in the night airglow, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 9595-9603, doi:10.5194/acp-11-9595-2011, 2011. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager XML
