Comment on “The O₂ atmospheric dayglow in the thermosphere” by M. R. Torr, B. Y. Welsh, and D. G. Torr

Abstract

It is known that v'-2-5 of O2(b ) are generated in aurorae, and possible mechanisms for this process are discussed in a recent paper [Slanger, 1986], drawing from earlier suggestions by Vallance Jones [1974, 1975] and $wider [1974]. However, the study of Torr et al. [1986] is the first to suggest that there are significant emissions from these levels in the dayglow.Unfortunately, no spectral simulation was performed, and

Rovibrational excitation of nitric oxide in the reaction of oxygen with metastable atomic nitrogen

“…Reagent gases are introduced into the reaction cell through temperature-controlled feed lines, as shown in Figure 1. N(2D,2P) are produced (together with N(4S) and excited metastable states of N2) by passing a flowing N2/Ar mixture at approximately 1 Torr through four parallel microwave discharges (2450 MHz, 50 W) prior to expanding into a low-pressure (approximately 3 mTorr), cryogenically pumped interaction volume. A counterflow gas (02 or Ar) enters the volume from the opposite side to combine with the discharge-excited gas in a stagnation region along the axis of the cell, which coincides with the axis of the cylindrical field of view of the detection system.…”

Model of Daytime Oxygen Emissions in the Mesopause Region and Above: A Review and New Results

“…Although, simultaneously with the O 2 (a 1 ∆ g , v = 0) and O 2 (b 1 Σ + g , v = 0) levels, the electronic-vibrational levels of oxygen molecules with v ≥ 1 are populated. Emission transitions from the O 2 (a 1 ∆ g , v ≥ 0) and O 2 (b 1 Σ + g , v ≥ 0) are observed in the atmospheric glow and clearly correlate with each other [12,[22][23][24]. Note that emission bands of an oxygen molecule with much higher levels of vibrational excitation O 2 (b 1 Σ + g , v = 0-15) are also observed in the atmospheric glow [25].…”

“…O2(b 1 Σg + , v = 2) + О3 → O2(a 1 Δg, v = 2) + O3(203) + 2.0 cm −1 (12) Of particular interest are the collisional reactions of electronically-vibrationally excited oxygen molecules with atomic oxygen. To date, the products of these reactions are not known, however, their rate coefficients have a rather large scatter of values (see Table 2).…”

The O2(b1Σ) dayglow emissions: application to middle and upper atmosphere remote sensing1This article is part of a Special issue that honours the work of Dr. Donald M. Hunten FRSC who passed away in December 2010 after a very illustrious career.

“…Torr et al [19] suggested the production mechanism of 0 D 2-4 to be energy transfer between N( 2 D) and O 2 . Slanger et al [22] later argued that this proposed mechanism needs to be reinvestigated by examining the observed spectra to include all other possible emission features present in the observed spectra. In the analysis of auroral O 2 (1-1) and (0-1) emission intensities and temperatures, Sivjee et al [23] examined the auroral O 2 ( 1 †, 0 ) sources in the O( 1 D) + O 2 reaction and interpreted them using the production yields obtained in the laboratory by Lee and Slanger [24].…”