Abstract
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 29,
1378,
4 PP., 2002
doi:10.1029/2002GL015079
OH observations of space shuttle exhaust
E.O. Hulburt Center for Space Research, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA
E.O. Hulburt Center for Space Research, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA
Universities Space Research Association, Washington, DC, USA
We report the unexpected observation of a large hydroxyl (OH) cloud north and east of the United States a day after a space shuttle launch in November, 1994. The Middle Atmosphere High Resolution Spectrograph Investigation (MAHRSI) observed OH(0,0) solar fluorescence near 309 nm while staring toward a tangent altitude of 87 km, where OH can be produced from water vapor photodissociation. The OH(0,0) band has a rotational temperature of 252 ± 23 K corresponding to an altitude of 110 ± 3 km, where nearly half of the shuttle's main engine water vapor exhaust is released on ascent. The location of the cloud one day after injection into the atmosphere implies that its average velocity is between 26–40 m/s northward. We also report strong evidence of water ice measured simultaneously along the same line of sight, suggesting that water vapor exhaust is redistributed by condensation and sedimentation.
Published 21 May 2002.
Citation: (2002), OH observations of space shuttle exhaust, Geophys. Res. Lett., 29(10), 1378, doi:10.1029/2002GL015079.
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