Aurora

The Solar Spectrum

Atmospheres Interact with Light

X rays
ionize atoms & molecules
dissociate molecules
absorbed by almost all
gases

Ultraviolet (UV)
dissociate some molecules
absorbed well by O3 & H2O

Visible (V)
passes right through gases
some photons are scattered

Infrared (IR)
absorbed by greenhouse
gases

Canonical Plot of = 1

Recall Lambert-Beer exponential absorption law: I ( ) I ( ) exp[ ( )]

Ionization and dissociation threshold energies and

wavelengths
Species
N2
O2
O
N
NO
H
He

Ionization
(eV)
()
15.58
796
12.08
1026
13.61
911
14.54
853
9.25
1340
13.59
912
24.58
504

Dissociation
(eV)
()
9.76
1270
5.12
2422
6.51

1905

Thresholds wavelengths are for the formation of ions in the ground state
A substantial fraction of ions and neutrals is produced in electronically excited
states and in enhanced vibrational population distributions

Neutral and ion/electron densities in the upper atmosphere

Aurora
Final outcome of complex Magnetospheric, Ionospheric and
Thermospheric interactions with the Solar wind and
Interplanetary magnetic filed

What is Airglow
Airglow is faint luminescence found in the upper atmosphere due to excitations and
deexcitations of atoms and molecules by interacting with solar radiation.
Airglow emission is generally observed in the visible spectrum which is mainly due the
following processes.

Fluorescence
1. A + hv A*
A* A + hv

Chemiluminescence
2. A + B

A* + B

A* A + hv
Due to the large availability of EUV photons in the upper atmosphere along with a smaller
concentration of atoms and molecules every atom and molecules when traverses back to
the ground state gives out its characteristic wavelength.

Salient features of airglow:

Airglow was discovered in 1868 by Anders Angstrom in the form of
green light in the upper atmosphere when aurora was absent.

Solar radiation is solely responsible directly and indirectly for the

formation of airglow.
Half of the luminosity of the night sky is contributed from Airglow.
The silhouette of an object held against the dark sky is due to the
presence of airglow.
Brightest occurrence in the range of 1020 km at an altitude of 100km
Airglow intensities are measured in the units of Rayleigh
( 106 photons/cm3).
Typical intensities are of the order of few hundred to thousand
Rayleigh.

Airglow bears closest resemblance to one of the very important optical phenomenon in
the upper atmosphere i.e., Aurora
Most of the airglow emanates from the region about 70 to 300 km.

Aurora is usually observed in Polar regions.

Aurora and Airglow

Although airglow bears resemblance to aurora it is very distinct in comparison to Aurora

Airglow is global which is seen at every point of the earth.

Aurora is local to the polar regions of
earth.

Airglow is due to the interaction of solar radiation with the

atmospheric constituents.
Aurora is due to the interaction of
high energetic solar wind particles with the
constituents of
atmosphere in the presence of magnetic field of earth.

Airglow intensities are very low of the order of few hundred

Rayleigh.
Auroral intensities are very high and they
are easily observed by naked eye. The typical intensities are of the
order of few kilo Rayleigh.

Luminosity of Airglow is relatively uniform.

Luminosity of Aurora is highly structured.

Picture of Airglow taken

from an all sky Photometer

Aurora as seen
from a site in
North Pole

Types of Airglow:
Depending on the time of observation airglow is mainly classified into three types they are
At any given time
42 45 %
33 35 %
20 25 %

of the Earth is
of the Earth is
of the Earth is

Day
Night
Twilight

Airglow

Dayglow

Photoabsorption /
Energetic particles

Twilightglow
Nightglow
Resonant/fluorescent
reactions

Exothermal
chemical reactions

Sources and Mechanisms of Airglow

The important sources of production of airglow are O 2 and N

These species participate in variety of processes that are initiated directly or

indirectly by solar radiation.

Solar EUV photons are mainly responsible in initiating the reactions leading
to formation of airglow.

Few Important Airglow emitting species:

Radiatin
g
Species

Transition

Waveleng
th ( nm )

Altitud
es

Airglow
Intensity
(kR )

Aurora
Intensit
y

( km )
H

Electronic

656.3

1002000

0.015

He

Electronic

1083

2501500

10

14

Electronic

246.6,
520.0
1044, 820

130270
130300

0.7, 0.2,
10, 3

N+

14

Electronic

575.5,
658.4

130400

0.5-0.8

16

Electronic

557.7,
630.0,
844.6

90-240
160320
130-

0.270
0.100
0.013

100
1000
5

557.7 nm Greenline Dayglow Emission:

Brightest and the most readily observed airglow emission in the atmosphere.
O(1S) O(1D) + 557.7 nm
Atomic oxygen Energy level diagram
0.91 sec

110 sec

Vertical Profile of greenline

Sources of Production of O(1S) in mesosphere

1. Photodissociation of molecular oxygen by solar EUV photons
O2 + hv (<133.25 nm) O + O(1S)
2. Three body recombination reaction
O(3P) + O(3P) + M O2* + M
O2* + O(3P) O2 + O(1S)
k2 and k3 are reaction rate coefficients
Loss Processes:
O(1S) + O2 O(3P) + O2
O(1S) + O O(3P) + O
O(1S) + O2(a1g) O(3P) + O2
O(1S) O(1D) + hv (557.7 nm )
O(1S) O(3P,1D) + hv

The production rate due to photodissociation of O2 can be calculated from

R(O(1 S )) [O2 ] I z ( , )Q ab ( )

[O2] is concentration of molecular oxygen

Q is quantum Yield of reaction

ab ( )
I z ( , )

is photoabsorption cross section of O2

is Solar EUV flux function of wavelength
and solar zenith angle

Quenching factor Qs is

Qs

Lawrence and McEwan ( 1973)

A8
A9 K 5 [O2 ] K 6 [O ] K 7 [O2 (a1 g )]

The total volume emission rate is

V[O(1S)]meso = Qs Rmeso[O(1S)] photon cm-3 sec-1

SOLAR2000

Atomic oxygen Redline Dayglow Emission

(630.0 nm)
1. Peak emission between 200 250 km region.
2. Most observed after the atomic oxygen greenline emission
3. Due to the following transition
O(1D)

O(3P) + hv (630.0 nm)

The O(1D) state is populated by the following

Reactions.
4. O(3P) + eph

O(1D) + eph

P.E.I

2. O2+ + eth

O(1D) + O(3P)

D.R

3. N(2D) + O2

O(1D) + O(3P) + N

4. O2 + hv

O(1D) + O(3P)

P.D

Loss Mechanism:
O(1D) produced in the atmosphere is lost by reaction with various
constituents of atmosphere.
1. O(1D) + N2
2. O(1D) + O2
3. O(1D)

O(3P) + N2
O(3P) + O2
O(3P) + hv (630.0 nm)