Measurements of the auroral atomic oxygen (³P‐¹D) emission line at 6300 Å made by the Atmosphere Explorer visible airglow experiment are analyzed using a tomographic inversion. Emission altitude profiles are compared to the results from an electron transport and chemical reaction model. The model incorporates measurements of the energetic electron flux, neutral composition, ion composition, and electron density. Reasonable correspondence is obtained using primarily the “classical” sources of O(¹D) excitation: electron impact on atomic oxygen and dissociative recombination of O2+. The reaction of N(²D) with O2 is considered to be a minor source. Small contributions are also calculated for cascade from O(¹S), electron impact dissociation of O2, reaction of N+ with O2, and energy transfer from O+(²D) and thermal electrons to O(³P). A possible minor source from the quenching of N(²D) or N(²P) by O(³P) is also discussed.

[1] Recent research suggests that mineral dust plays an important role in terrestrial weather and climate, not only by altering the atmospheric radiation budget, but also by affecting cloud microphysics and optical properties. In addition, dust transport and related Aeolian processes have been substantially modifying the surface of Mars. Dusty convective plumes and dust devils are frequently observed in terrestrial deserts and are ubiquitous features of the Martian landscape. There is evidence that they are important sources of atmospheric dust on both planets. Many studies have shown that on a small scale, dust sourcing is sensitive to a large number of factors, such as soil cover, physical characteristics, composition, topography, and weather. We have been doing comparative studies of dust events on Earth and Mars in order to shed light on important physical processes of the weather and climate of both planets. Our 2002 field campaign showed that terrestrial dust devils produce heat and dust fluxes two and five orders of magnitude larger than their background values. It also showed that charge separation within terrestrial dust devils produces strong electric fields that might play a significant role in dust sourcing. Since Martian dust devils and dust storms are stronger and larger than terrestrial events, they probably produce even stronger fluxes and electric fields.

The high‐resolution Doppler imager (HRDI) on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) is a triple‐etalon Fabry‐Perot interferometer designed to measure winds in the stratosphere, mesosphere, and lower thermosphere. Winds are determined by measuring the Doppler shifts of rotational lines of the O2 atmospheric band, which are observed in emission in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere and in absorption in the stratosphere. The interferometer has high resolution (0.05 cm−1), good offband rejection and excellent stability. This paper provides details of the design and capabilities of the HRDI instrument.

High latitude Joule heating has been calculated from simultaneous observations of the electric field magnitude and the Pedersen conductivity calculated from individual measurements of the ion drift velocity and particle precipitation observed over the lifetime of the AE‐C satellite. The data were sorted by latitude, local time, hemisphere, season, and Kp index and separate averages of the electric field magnitude, Pedersen conductivity and Joule heating were prepared. Conductivities produced by an averaged seasonal solar illumination were included with those calculated from the particle precipitation. We found that high‐latitude Joule heating occurs in a roughly oval pattern and consists of three distinct heating regions: the dayside cleft, the region of sunward convection at dawn and dusk, and the midnight sector. On the average, heating in the cleft and dawn‐dusk regions contributes the largest heat input. There is no apparent difference between hemispheres for similar seasons. Hemisphere averaged Joule heating at equinox amounts to approximately 25 GW for Kp = 1 conditions, 85 GW for Kp = 4, and varies linearly as a function of Kp. The Joule heat input is 50% greater during the summer than during winter primarily due to the increased conductivity caused by solar production.

The daytime thermospheric emission at 630 nm from the (³P‐¹D) transition of atomic oxygen is examined using data from the Atmosphere Explorer C and E spacecraft. Observed altitude distributions of the emission rate measured using the Visible Airglow Experiment are compared with those calculated from in situ measurements of ion and neutral densities and temperatures, and from a model of the photon and photoelectron flux. Good agreement is obtained for most orbits with photoelectron impact on O, photodissociation of O2, and dissociative recombination of O2+ providing most of the production. Implications for some of the controversial points of O(¹D) chemistry, such as the solar EUV and Schumann‐Runge continuum flux, the yield of O(¹D) from the reaction of N(²D) with O2, the value of spontaneous transition coefficients, and the rate of quenching by O(³P) are discussed.