An Investigation of the Influence of Seasonal and Latitudinal Variations of Atomic Oxygen on the Intensity of Self-Emission of the Night Atmospheres of the Earth and Mars

Abstract

Experimental data on the characteristic concentrations of atomic oxygen in the upper atmospheres of the Earth and Mars are considered in the paper. The values of the integrated intensities of Herzberg I bands for the middle latitudes and the equatorial zone of the Earth are calculated, as well as for the northern latitudes and the equatorial zone of Mars. The correlation of theoretically calculated results for the emission intensities of the bands of electronically excited molecular oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere in the spectral range of 250–370 nm and of experimental data on the glow of molecular oxygen obtained from the Discovery cosmic shuttle (STS-53) is discussed. The calculated values of the column integrated intensities of the Herzberg I band system in the Earth’s atmosphere for various seasons and for points of the equinox of Mars are presented. It is shown that at the middle latitudes of the Earth during the period of low solar activity, the maximum values of integral intensities are typical for July, but in the equatorial zone they are typical for April. In the northern latitudes of Mars, the maximum values occur at the moment of the autumn equinox.