Atmospheric density and pressure inferred from the meteor diffusion coefficient and airglow O2b temperature in the MLT region

Abstract

Atmospheric density and pressure in the upper mesosphere-lower thermosphere (MLT) region, around 90 km, are inferred from the meteor trail ambipolar diffusion coefficients, D, and simultaneously observed airglow O2b rotational temperatures. For the present study simultaneous observation data from the meteor radar and SATI imaging spectrometer taken at Shigaraki MU radar observatory (34.9°N, 136.1°E) were used. From the 18 winter nights of data, it is observed that in most of the cases nocturnal variation of the O2 temperature has a good correlation with D at 90 to 92 km. The inferred densities at 90 km showed a negative correlation with temperature variation, suggesting a constant pressure process. The O2 emission intensity shows a good correlation with the temperature, and negative correlation with the density variation. The OH rotational temperature and D at 87 km also showed similar results to the case of the O2 temperature. © 2004, The Seismological Society of Japan, Society of Geomagnetism and Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences, The Volcanological Society of Japan, The Geodetic Society of Japan, The Japanese Society for Planetary Sciences. All rights reserved.