Morphology of Traveling Wave Disturbances Recorded in Eastern Siberia in 630 nm Atomic Oxygen Emission

Our paper presents the results of investigating wave structures detected in 630 nm atomic oxygen emission intensity (airglow height is ~180–300 km). The study employs data from a wide-angle optical system installed at the Geophysical Observatory of the ISTP SB RAS (51°48′ N, 103°04′ E). It describes the algorithm to identify wave disturbances and determine their main parameters in the optical system images. The results obtained due to automatic processing of 2014–2021 data archives are presented. The most probable values of the wave disturbances propagation velocity are about 80 m/s. The horizontal wavelengths and periods are in the range of ~30–400 km and 60–120 min, respectively. The predominant direction of disturbances propagation is to the southwest. The received data of optical and radio observations are compared. We found both similarities and differences in the wavelike structures direction, which are to be investigated in the future.

Near-Earth space balloon-based multi-band airglow imager optic design

As a common tracer in the atmosphere, airglow can be used as an important means to study the interaction between the lower atmosphere, near space, and ionosphere. In the near-Earth space, the high-altitude balloon can realize long time flight, which makes the airglow detection realize both high range resolution and time resolution. In this paper, a balloon-based multi-band airglow imager is designed, which can observe OI (557.7 nm), Na (589.3 nm), OI (630.0 nm), and OH (720-910 nm) with annular field of view (30° inner ring and 80° outer ring), and its resolution is 500 m at 250 km. The multi-band airglow imager designed in this paper is equipped in the payload cabin and raised to above 30 km for flat flying for more than 6 h. The experimental results show that the imager worked normally, and airglow images were photographed and stored; the optical system can stand the harsh environment in the near space. The multi-band airglow imager designed in this paper will take part in other near-space exploration tasks in the future and obtain corresponding results.

Preliminary Dual-Satellite Observations of Atmospheric Gravity Waves in Airglow

Atmospheric gravity waves (AGWs) are among the important energy and momentum transfer mechanisms from the troposphere to the middle and upper atmosphere. Despite their understood importance in governing the structure and dynamics of these regions, mesospheric AGWs remain poorly measured globally, and largely unconstrained in numerical models. Since late 2011, the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) Visible/Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) day–night band (DNB) has observed global AGWs near the mesopause by virtue of its sensitivity to weak emissions of the OH* Meinel bands. The wave features, detectable at 0.75 km spatial resolution across its 3000 km imagery swath, are often confused by the upwelling emission of city lights and clouds reflecting downwelling nightglow. The Ionosphere, Mesosphere, upper Atmosphere and Plasmasphere (IMAP)/ Visible and near-Infrared Spectral Imager (VISI) O2 band, an independent measure of the AGW structures in nightglow based on the International Space Station (ISS) during 2012–2015, contains much less noise from the lower atmosphere. However, VISI offers much coarser resolution of 14–16 km and a narrower swath width of 600 km. Here, we present preliminary results of comparisons between VIIRS/DNB and VISI observations of AGWs, focusing on several concentric AGW events excited by the thunderstorms over Eastern Asia in August 2013. The comparisons point toward suggested improvements for future spaceborne airglow sensor designs targeting AGWs.