On the variability of mesospheric OH emission profiles

Abstract

Mesospheric OH radiance limb profiles measured by the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) instrument aboard the Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) spacecraft were inverted to yield altitude profiles of OH volume emission rates. The Abel inversion results of two months of data (from 1 June to 31 July 2004) were analyzed for the layer mean and standard deviation as a function of latitude and local time. Statistical analysis of SABER data shows that the global difference between the mean and standard deviation profiles for the OH(v u = 7, 8, 9; Δv = 2) emission (at 2.0 μm) is approximately 2.8 km, very similar to the theoretical model prediction by Liu and Swenson (2003). This agreement is an indication that these variations from the mean are likely caused by atmospheric tides and gravity waves. Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union.