Noll, S, Plane, JMC orcid.org/0000-0003-3648-6893, Feng, W orcid.org/0000-0002-9907-9120 et al. (3 more authors) (2019) Observations and Modeling of Potassium Emission in the Terrestrial Nightglow. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124 (12). pp. 6612-6629. ISSN 2169-897X
Abstract
The ablation of cosmic dust entering the atmosphere causes the formation of an atomic potassium (K) layer in the mesopause region. It can be studied via resonance fluorescence from the K(D1) line at 769.9 nm, stimulated by sunlight or a laser. In addition, the faint emission from a chemiluminescent cycle involving ozone and oxygen atoms has been observed with a nocturnal mean intensity of about 1 Rayleigh. In this study, the K nightglow is investigated in much greater detail, using 2,299 high‐resolution spectra taken with the astronomical echelle spectrograph Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph at Cerro Paranal in Chile (24.6°S) between 2000 and 2014. The seasonal variation is dominated by a maximum in June. During the night, the highest intensities are found close to sunrise. Moreover, there is a clear negative correlation with solar activity. These variations are very different from those of the well‐studied sodium (Na) nightglow. The K nightglow at Cerro Paranal was also simulated with the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model including K chemistry. The observed and modeled climatologies do not match well, largely because of unreliable Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model ozone densities. Satellite‐based profile retrievals for ozone and temperature from Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry and K from Optical Spectrograph and Infrared Imaging System were then used to simulate the K nightglow and to derive the quantum yield of the K(D) emission with respect to the reaction of K with ozone. Considering that the obscured K(D2) line is expected on theoretical grounds to be 1.67 times brighter than K(D1), we find about 30% for this quantum yield, which is much higher than for Na(D) emission.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019, American Geophysical Union. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | nightglow; potassium; chemistry; climatology; remote sensing; modeling |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > National Centre for Atmos Science (NCAS) (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemistry (Leeds) > Physical Chemistry (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EU - European Union 291332 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 09 Jul 2019 11:28 |
Last Modified: | 16 Nov 2019 01:39 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Geophysical Union |
Identification Number: | 10.1029/2018JD030044 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:148322 |