A Fabry-Perot interferometer,funded by the Meridian Project in China,was deployed at the Xinglong station(40.2°N,117.4°E) of the National Astronomical Observatories in Hebei Province,China.The instrument has been operating since April 2010,measuring mesospheric and thermospheric winds.The first observational data of winds at three heights in the mesosphere and thermosphere were analyzed,demonstrating the capacity of this instrument to aid basic scientific research.The wavelengths of three airglow emissions were OH892.0,OI 557.7,and OI 630.0 nm,which corresponded to heights of 87,98,and 250 km,respectively.Three 38-day data sets of horizontal winds,from April 5,2010 to May 12,2010,show clear day-to-day variations at the same height.The minimum and maximum meridional winds at heights of 87,98,and 250 km were-16.5 to 8.7 m/s,-24.4 to 15.9 m/s,and-43.6 to 1.5 m/s.Measurements of zonal winds were-5.4 to 7.6 m/s,2.3 to 23.0 m/s,and-22.6 to 49.3 m/s.The average data from the observations was consistent with the data from HWM93.The wind data at heights of 87 and 98 km suggest a semi-diurnal oscillation,clearly consistent with HWM93 results.Conversely there was a clear discrepancy between the observations and the model at 250 km.In general,this Fabry-Perot interferometer is a useful ground-based instrument for measuring mesospheric and thermospheric winds at middle latitudes.
In order to investigate the global distributions of temporal variations of OH and O2 nightglow emissions,we statistically analyzed their variations with altitude,local time,and season,using the OH and O2 airglow emission rate data observed by the TIMED satellite between 2002 and 2009.The results indicated that the OH nightglow emission was stronger than dayglow emission and the O2 nightglow emission was weaker than dayglow emission.In the tropics,the OH nightglow intensity reached its maximum near midnight;at higher latitudes,the OH nightglow intensities after sunset and before sunrise were much strong.At the equinoxes,the O2 nightglow intensity in the tropics decreased with local time;at the solstices,the local time-latitude distribution of the O2 nightglow intensity had a valley(with weak emission).As for the altitude-latitude distributions of nightglow emission rates,the distribution for OH nightglow at the equinoxes had one peak(with strong emission)at the equator,with a peak height around 85 km;the peak for the March equinox was stronger than that for the September equinox.The distribution for O2 nightglow at the equinoxes had three peaks,lying at 30°in the spring and autumn hemispheres and at the equator,and the peak height at the equator was the lowest.The distributions for both OH and O2 nightglow emissions at the solstices had three peaks.Both nightglow intensities in the tropics had obvious annual and semi-annual variations,the peaks and valleys for semi-annual variations appeared near the equinoxes and solstices,respectively,and the peak at the March equinox was larger than that at the September equinox.The distributions of both OH and O2 nightglow intensities showed a hemispheric asymmetry.
GAO HongXU JiYaoCHEN GuangMingYUAN WeiBELETSKY A. B
The global distribution of 1.27 ~tm 02 nightglow brightness observed by the TIMED/SABER satellite has been investigated to find the longitudinal structures for different seasons and latitudes. The results show that the 02 airglow is dominated by wave 4 structure at latitudes between equator and 20°S/N in both hemispheres during most seasons. At mid-latitudes around 40°S/N, the wave 1 structure is observed for most seasons with a small contribution of wave 2 during the June solstice. A comparison of the 02 and OH nightglows shows similarity in their global distributions which can be attributed to their similar photochemical mechanisms.
