Observation of radio-wave-induced red hydroxyl emission at low altitude in the ionosphere.
We report the discovery of radio-wave-induced red emission of OH Meinel rotation-vibrational bands at 629.79 nm. These are the first measurements of artificial aurora below 100 km. We believe that the 629.79-nm OH emission was due to radio-wave focusing by sporadic ionization clouds near 80-85 km altitude, thus giving a technique to visualize the low-altitude sporadic ionization and providing insight into ionospheric interactions at these low altitudes.
Kagan
L M
LM
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 3K7, Canada.
Nicolls
M J
MJ
Kelley
M C
MC
Carlson
H C
HC
Belikovich
V V
VV
Bakhmet'eva
N V
NV
Komrakov
G P
GP
Trondsen
T S
TS
Donovan
E
E