The influence of the diurnal tide on the O(¹S) and OH emission rates observed by WINDII on UARS

Abstract

WINDII data provide the first comprehensive observations of emission rates and winds from both the O(¹S) and OH night airglows for the same time periods. The latitudinal distributions of the two nightglows are found to have a phase relationship which is dependent on season and local time. The O(¹S) emission rate has an almost permanent equatorial “trough”, but the OH emission rate has an equatorial maximum (until 4 hours local time) at equinox, and a “trough” after midnight at solstice. WINDII meridional winds show that the descending phase progression of the diurnal tide (upward propagation of tide) is correlated with the emission rate patterns of the two airglows.