CHARACTERISTICS OF ATMOSPHERIC WAVES OBSERVED FROM AIRGLOW MEASUREMENTS IN THE NORTHERN HIGH-LATITUDE

Abstract

The terrestrial nightglow emission in near infrared region were obtained using a Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) at Esrange, Sweden (67.90° N, 21.10° E) and the OH(4-2) bands were used to derive temperature and airglow emission rate of the upper mesosphere. For this study, we analyzed data taken during winter of 2001/2002 and performed spectral analysis to retrieve wave information. From the Lomb-Scargle spectral analysis to the measured temperatures, dominant oscillations at various periods near tidal frequency are found. Most commonly observed waves are 4, 6, and 8 hour oscillations. Because of periods and persistence, the observed oscillations are most likely of tidal origin, i. e. zonally symmetric tides which are known to have their maximum amplitudes at the pole.