A. T. Stair

Rocket measurements of the altitude distributions of the hydroxyl airglow

Measured profiles of the vertical distributions of the volume emission rates of the OH infrared airglow are presented. These measurements by various investigators constitute a total of 34 rocket flights and were obtained at both mid and high latitudes, at various solar depression angles, and at various times of the year using rockets which flew into the middle atmosphere. Some 55 profiles are summarized. Quantitative altitude comparisons are made at various locations. Included in the comparisons are volume emission rate profiles at IR as well as at visible wavelengths. From all of the profiles reported, the value of the mean altitude of the peak OH volume emission rate is 87.4 km, and the mean half-power thickness is 12.4 km. However, we recommend as working numbers to be used: 86.8 ? 2.6 km for the altitude of the peak and 8.6 ? 3.1 for the thickness of the OH emission layer [taken from the selected profiles of Table III].

Rocketborne cryogenic (10 K) high-resolution interferometer spectrometer flight HIRIS: auroral and atmospheric IR emission spectra

A Michelson interferometer spectrometer cooled to 10 degrees by liquid helium was flown into an IBC class III aurora on 1 April 1976 from Poker Flat, Alas. The sensor, HIRIS, covered the spectral range 455-2500 wave numbers (4-22 microm) with a spectral resolution of 1.8 cm(-1) and an NESR of 5 x 10-12 W/cm2 scrm(-1) at 1000 cm(-1). An atmospheric emission spectrum was obtained every 0.7 sec over an altitude range of 70-125 km. Atmospheric spectra were obtained of CO2 (nu3), NO (Deltanu = 1), O3 (nu3) and CO2 (nu2). Auroral produced excitations were observed for each band, this being the first known measurement of auroral enhancements of O3 (nu3), 9.6 microm, and CO2 (nu2), 15 microm, emissions.

Molecular Beams Formed by Arrays of 3–40 μ Diameter Tubes

The results of an experimental investigation of molecular beams formed by a closely packed array of glass tubes of uniform diameter are presented. The sets of tubes used (which are commercially available) ranged in diameter from 3 to 40 μ with length‐to‐diameter ratios of 12 to 100, and were driven by pressures extending from 0.025 to 15 Torr. The experimentally determined functional variations for flux density, on‐axis intensity, and beam half‐width (conditions L≥λ and a «L) are: Q/A=32(2/3π)(ν/σ2)(L/λ)(e/L)(a/L),Ic/A=(1/8π32)(ν/σ2)(L/λ)12(e/L)(a/a0)13,θ12=(4/√π)(L/λ)12(a/L).L is the length of the tubes, a is the tube radius, and e is the percent transparency of the area A of the array. It is found experimentally that the flux is approximately ⅔ of that predicted theoretically, the beam width is twice that predicted theoretically, and the prediction for center line intensity is modified by (a/a.)⅓ The dependence of the beam intensity on the tube radius is attributed to self‐scattering due to the dense ...

Aurorally enhanced infrared emissions

Aurorally enhanced IR emissions in the 2.9-microm region have been measured from a jet aircraft with a zenith looking radiometer. Overtone chemiluminescent emission from chemically produced NO is the postulated source.