ESTIMATION OF ATOMIC OXYGEN CONCENTRATIONS FROM MEASURED INTENSITIES OF INFRARED NITRIC-OXIDE RADIATION

The vibrational distribution of nitric oxide in the polar ionosphere c omputed according to the one-dimensional non-steady model of chemical and vibrational kinetics of the upper atmosphere has been compared wit h experimental data from rocket measurement. Some input parameters of the model have been varied to obtain the least-averaged deviation of t he calculated population from experimental one. It is shown that the l east deviation of our calculations from experimental measurements depe nds sufficiently on both the surprisal parameter of the production rea ction of metastable atomic nitrogen with molecular oxygen and the prof ile of atomic oxygen concentration. The best agreement with the MSIS-8 3 profile was obtained for the value of surprisal parameter correspond ing to recent laboratory estimations. The measured depression of level upsilon = 2 is obtained in the calculation that uses sufficiently inc reased concentrations of atomic oxygen. It is pointed out that similar measurements of infrared radiation intensities could be used to estim ate the atomic oxygen concentrations during auroral disturbances of th e upper atmosphere.