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THE MAIN GOAL OF THIS STUDY IS TO DETERMINE THE PHYSICAL MECHANISMS EXCITING AND QUENCHING CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2) AND HYDROXYL (OH) MOLECULAR VIBRATIONS IN THE NIGHTTIME MESOSPHERE AND LOWER THERMOSPHERE (MLT). WE WILL UTILIZE AS A CHARACTERIZATION TOOL THE NIGHTTIME LIMB OBSERVATIONS OF THE INFRARED (IR) CO2 4.3 AND 15 MICROMETER (UM) AND OH 1.6 AND 2 UM EMISSIONS OBSERVED BY SABER (SOUNDING OF THE ATMOSPHERE USING BROADBAND EMISSION RADIOMETRY) TO HELP IDENTIFY THESE MECHANISMS. NON-LOCAL THERMODYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM (NON-LTE) ANALYSIS WILL BE APPLIED TO BOTH CO2 AND OH IR EMISSIONS USING THE NON-LTE ALI-ARMS (ACCELERATED LAMBDA ITERATIONS FOR ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION AND MOLECULAR SPECTRA) CODE PACKAGE IN ORDER TO BUILD A ROBUST NIGHTTIME EMISSION MODEL. THE MODEL WILL BE APPLIED TO RETRIEVE NIGHTTIME PRESSURE TEMPERATURE CO2 AND OH DENSITY IN THE MLT FROM SABER LIMB RADIANCES USING AN ITERATIVE FORWARD FITTING ALGORITHM. TO ACHIEVE CLOSURE IN OUR SCIENCE GOALS SEVERAL OBJECTIVES NEED TO BE ACCOMPLISHED: (A) REVISION OF CURRENT NIGHTTIME 4.3 UM NON-LTE CO2 EMISSION MODEL ACCOUNTING FOR VARIOUS MECHANISMS RESPONSIBLE FOR EXCITING AND QUENCHING CO2 MOLECULAR VIBRATIONS INCLUDING SIGNIFICANT INDIRECT ENERGY TRANSFER PROCESSES FROM OH; (B) APPLICATION OF THE REVISED NIGHTTIME EMISSION MODEL TO SIMULTANEOUSLY AND SELF-CONSISTENTLY RETRIEVE TEMPERATURE PRESSURE OH AND CO2 DENSITIES FROM SABER NIGHTTIME RADIANCES FOR VARIOUS LATITUDES AND SEASONS; (C) VALIDATION OF RETRIEVED TEMPERATURE AND CO2 WITH COINCIDENTAL GROUND-BASED LIDAR OBSERVATIONS. THE PROPOSED STUDY IS COMPELLING BECAUSE STUDYING TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL VARIABILITIES AND TRENDS IN THE MLT REQUIRES ANALYSIS OF BOTH DAYTIME (ALREADY PROCESSED) AND NIGHTTIME OBSERVATIONS. THE RESULTS WILL SIGNIFICANTLY AID IN THE UNDERSTANDING OF MECHANISMS RESPONSIBLE FOR GENERATING IR MOLECULAR EMISSIONS IN THE MLT. IN ADDITION PRODUCING A SELF-CONSISTENT NIGHTTIME MODEL WILL ALLOW SABER RADIANCES TO BE REPROCESSED AND GLOBAL TEMPERATURES PRESSURES AND CO2 DISTRIBUTIONS MORE ACCURATELY RETRIEVED

$30,000FY2016National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA

George Mason University, Fairfax VA

Investigators

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THE MAIN GOAL OF THIS STUDY IS TO DETERMINE THE PHYSICAL MECHANISMS EXCITING AND QUENCHING CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2) AND HYDROXYL (OH) MOLECULAR VIBRATIONS IN THE NIGHTTIME MESOSPHERE AND LOWER THERMOSPHERE (MLT). WE WILL UTILIZE AS A CHARACTERIZATION TOOL THE NIGHTTIME LIMB OBSERVATIONS OF THE INFRARED (IR) CO2 4.3 AND 15 MICROMETER (UM) AND OH 1.6 AND 2 UM EMISSIONS OBSERVED BY SABER (SOUNDING OF THE ATMOSPHERE USING BROADBAND EMISSION RADIOMETRY) TO HELP IDENTIFY THESE MECHANISMS. NON-LOCAL THERMODYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM (NON-LTE) ANALYSIS WILL BE APPLIED TO BOTH CO2 AND OH IR EMISSIONS USING THE NON-LTE ALI-ARMS (ACCELERATED LAMBDA ITERATIONS FOR ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION AND MOLECULAR SPECTRA) CODE PACKAGE IN ORDER TO BUILD A ROBUST NIGHTTIME EMISSION MODEL. THE MODEL WILL BE APPLIED TO RETRIEVE NIGHTTIME PRESSURE TEMPERATURE CO2 AND OH DENSITY IN THE MLT FROM SABER LIMB RADIANCES USING AN ITERATIVE FORWARD FITTING ALGORITHM. TO ACHIEVE CLOSURE IN OUR SCIENCE GOALS SEVERAL OBJECTIVES NEED TO BE ACCOMPLISHED: (A) REVISION OF CURRENT NIGHTTIME 4.3 UM NON-LTE CO2 EMISSION MODEL ACCOUNTING FOR VARIOUS MECHANISMS RESPONSIBLE FOR EXCITING AND QUENCHING CO2 MOLECULAR VIBRATIONS INCLUDING SIGNIFICANT INDIRECT ENERGY TRANSFER PROCESSES FROM OH; (B) APPLICATION OF THE REVISED NIGHTTIME EMISSION MODEL TO SIMULTANEOUSLY AND SELF-CONSISTENTLY RETRIEVE TEMPERATURE PRESSURE OH AND CO2 DENSITIES FROM SABER NIGHTTIME RADIANCES FOR VARIOUS LATITUDES AND SEASONS; (C) VALIDATION OF RETRIEVED TEMPERATURE AND CO2 WITH COINCIDENTAL GROUND-BASED LIDAR OBSERVATIONS. THE PROPOSED STUDY IS COMPELLING BECAUSE STUDYING TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL VARIABILITIES AND TRENDS IN THE MLT REQUIRES ANALYSIS OF BOTH DAYTIME (ALREADY PROCESSED) AND NIGHTTIME OBSERVATIONS. THE RESULTS WILL SIGNIFICANTLY AID IN THE UNDERSTANDING OF MECHANISMS RESPONSIBLE FOR GENERATING IR MOLECULAR EMISSIONS IN THE MLT. IN ADDITION PRODUCING A SELF-CONSISTENT NIGHTTIME MODEL WILL ALLOW SABER RADIANCES TO BE REPROCESSED AND GLOBAL TEMPERATURES PRESSURES AND CO2 DISTRIBUTIONS MORE ACCURATELY RETRIEVED · GrantIndex