ISSN 2070-7401 (Print), ISSN 2411-0280 (Online)
Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa
CURRENT PROBLEMS IN REMOTE SENSING OF THE EARTH FROM SPACE

  

Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2016, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 171-185

Empirical model of emission variations of the upper atmosphere continuum

A.I. Semenov 1 , N.N. Shefov 1 , I.V. Medvedeva 2 , V.Yu. Khomich 3 , Yu.A. Zheleznov 3 
1 A.M. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics RAS, Moscow, Russia
2 Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics SB RAS, Irkutsk, Russia
3 Institute of Electrophysics and Electric Power RAS, St. Petersburg, Russia

Accepted: 01.12.2015
DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2016-13-1-171-185 

Based on the analysis of data of ground-based, satellite and rocket measurements of the intensity of the continuum of the upper atmosphere in the visible and near infrared regions of the spectrum, we developed a model of regularities of the spectral distribution of the continuum emission intensity, and their variations for various helio-geophysical conditions. Absolute integral intensity of the infrared component of the continuum emission was calculated using the obtained in laboratory conditions rates of photochemical reactions between molecules of nitric oxide and excited and unexcited molecules of ozone. It was revealed that the height distribution of the intensity of the continuous spectrum of the atmosphere radiation in the infrared spectrum range covers a height range of the middle atmosphere from 10 to 15 km. Comparison of calculated values of the continuum intensity with the results of its ground-based spectrophotometric measurements in the near infrared region of the spectrum allowed us to specify the ratio of the rate of reaction of the molecules of nitric oxide with ozone. This reaction is responsible for occurrence of the continuum emission in the infrared region of the spectrum. In the model, variations of the altitude distribution of the volume intensity of the infrared continuum for various heliogeophysical conditions are presented. We found, that the basic interval of heights of a radiating layer of the continuum caused by process NO+O is located at heights of 80−110 km. The layer of the continuum emission, which occurs due to the processes of interaction of the molecules of nitric oxide with ozone molecules in the excited and unexcited states, covers the whole of middle atmosphere above the troposphere.
Keywords: continuum emissions, infrared and visible radiation, intensity, height distribution, airglow variations, middle atmosphere
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