Connotea
CiteULike
del.ico.us
BibSonomyAbstract
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 31,
L10103,
4 PP., 2004
doi:10.1029/2003GL019151
Infrared Auroral Emissions Driven by Resonant Electron Impact Excitation of NO Molecules
School of Chemistry, Physics and Earth Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia
School of Chemistry, Physics and Earth Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia
Institute of Physics, Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro.
Atomic and Molecular Physics Laboratories, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Atomic and Molecular Physics Laboratories, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Atomic and Molecular Physics Laboratories, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Although only a minor constituent of the earth's upper atmosphere, nitric oxide (NO) plays a major role in infrared auroral emissions due to radiation from vibrationally excited (NO*) states. The main process leading to the production of these excited molecules was thought to be chemiluminescence, whereby excited nitrogen atoms interact with oxygen molecules to form vibrationally excited nitric oxide (NO*) and atomic oxygen. Here we show evidence that a different production mechanism for NO*, due to low energy electron impact excitation of NO molecules, is responsible for more than 30% of the NO auroral emission near 5 μm.
Received 25 November 2003; accepted 21 April 2004; published 25 May 2004.
Citation: (2004), Infrared Auroral Emissions Driven by Resonant Electron Impact Excitation of NO Molecules, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L10103, doi:10.1029/2003GL019151.
Cited By