MOLECULAR OXYGEN ABUNDANCES IN THE THERMOSPHERE FROM ATMOSPHERE EXPLORER-C ION COMPOSITION MEASUREMENTS.

M. Oppenheimer, A. Dalgarno, H. C. Brinton

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

A scheme is presented for the daytime ion chemistry of O//2** plus in the thermosphere and used to derive molecular oxygen abundances from ion composition measurements on board the Atmosphere Explorer-C satellite. The molecular oxygen abundance varies from about 1. 0 multiplied by 10**8 to 5. 0 multiplied by 10**8 cm** minus **3 at 200 km. No seasonal variation is found, but a significant increase in mean O//2 density occurs at high geomagnetic latitudes. A small variation of the O//2 density with local time is found.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)4678-4684
Number of pages7
JournalJ Geophys Res
Volume81
Issue number25
DOIs
StatePublished - 1976

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Geophysics
  • Forestry
  • Oceanography
  • Aquatic Science
  • Ecology
  • Water Science and Technology
  • Soil Science
  • Geochemistry and Petrology
  • Earth-Surface Processes
  • Atmospheric Science
  • Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Space and Planetary Science
  • Palaeontology

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