Simulations of gravity wave-induced variations of the OH(8,3), O 2(0,1), and O(1S) airglow emissions in the MLT region

Abstract

We investigate gravity wave-induced airglow intensity variations of the OH(8,3), O2(0,1) atmospheric band, and O(1S) greenline emissions in the mesosphere/lower thermosphere (MLT) region with two two-dimensional, time-dependent, nonlinear models - an OH Chemistry-Dynamics model and a Multiple Airglow Chemistry-Dynamics model. Our simulation results of the wave effects by a small-scale 30-km wave packet show that it induces an ~22% secular increase in the OH(8,3) airglow intensity, a 30% increase in the O2(0,1) atmospheric band, and a 33% increase in the O(1S) greenline. The largest wave-induced airglow intensity fluctuation amplitude is seen in the OH(8,3) emission (~2.4%), followed by the O2(0,1) atmospheric band and O(1S) greenline with comparable maximum wave-induced airglow intensity fluctuation amplitudes of 1%. Our study also shows that the production of atmospheric bands and O(1S) strongly depends on the rate coefficients in the three-body recombination reactions. Key Points The wave packet induces significant secular variations of airglow intensities The higher the airglow layers, the larger the secular variations The rate coefficients in the three-body recombination reactions are important ©2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.