Observations of Terrestrial Nightglow (Meinel Bands) at King Sejong Station, Antarctica

Abstract

A Fourier Transform Spectrometer was used to study upper mesospheric thermodynamic by observing the hydroxyl (OH) emission. Rocket-born and satellited-born photometers place the peak emission near 87 km. The instrument was installed in February 1999 at King Sejong station (62.22 °S, 301.25 °E), Antarctica and has been in routine operation since then. An intensive operational effort has resulted in a substantial data between April and June, 1999. A harmonic analysis was carried out to examine information on the tidal characteristics. The measured amplitudes of the 12-hour oscillation are in the range of 2.4-3.7 K, which are in resonable agreement with theoretical model outputs. The harmonic analysis also revealed 8-hour oscillation which is not expected from the traditional theoretical studies. In addition, the observed 8-hour oscillations are apparent and sometimes dominate the temperature variation in the upper mesosphere.