Microwave spectrum of molecular oxygen in the mesosphere.

The potential of using the 5-mm resonance lines of O2 to remotely probe the mesospheric temperature profile is analyzed in detail, and specific experiments are proposed. An absorption matrix, which includes the complete Zeeman effect, is used in a tensor equation of radiative transfer to compute the microwave spectrum near the resonance lines as it would be seen from space. The conclusion is that such techniques do afford a means of remotely determining the mesospheric temperature profile to heights of approximately 80 km, and that this is possible with available 5-mm hardware. The two specific experiments that are described in detail would sound the mesosphere in the 60-km and 73-km regions. Radiometric sensitivities of 1.5–5°K are possible for these experiments, with a horizontal resolution of 100–300 km along the direction of motion.

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