Altitude dependence of the vibrational distribution of in the nightglow and the possible effects of vibrational excitation in the formation of O(1S)

Abstract

A simple vibrational relaxation model that reproduces the observed vibrational distribution of the [Formula: see text] Herzberg II bands in the terrestrial nightglow is used to derive the altitude profiles of the fractional populations in the individual vibrational levels. Through consideration of these profiles it is shown that if [Formula: see text] is the Barth precursor of O(1S) in the nightglow then, at least in the terrestrial atmosphere, the higher vibrational levels appear to be more effective in the Barth transfer step than the lower vibrational levels.