Abstract
The concentration of water vapour in the mesosphere and above cannot be easily measured because the quantity of water is very small due to the low atmospheric density. Now, however, we report the observation of resonant fluorescent radiation from water vapour in the 50–95 km region by the Stratospheric and Mesospheric Sounder (SAMS) on Nimbus 7 satellite. Our preliminary data suggest that the mixing ratio of water vapour decreases with increasing height over this region with a value of ∼1×10−6 v/v at 75–85 km.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ehhalt, D. H. & Tonniben, A. Proc. NATO Advanced Study Institute on Atmospheric Ozone: Its Variations and Influences (U.S. Department of Transportation, FAA-EE-80-20, 1979).
Nicolet, M. Rev. Geophys. Space Phys. 13, 593–636 (1975).
Thomas, L. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A296, 243–260 (1980).
Drummond, J. R. et al. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A296, 219–241 (1980).
Finzi, J., Hovis, H. E., Panilov, V. N., Hess, P. & Bradley Moore, C. J. chem. Phys. 67, 4053–4061 (1977).
Houghton, J. T. Proc. phys. Soc. 91, 439–448 (1967).
Rothman, L. S. Appl. Opt. 20, 791–795 (1981).
Swider, W. & Narcisi, R. S. J. geophys. Res. 80, 655–664 (1975).
Arnold, F. & Krankowsky, D. Nature 268, 218–219 (1977).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Drummond, J., Mutlow, C. Satellite measurements of H2O fluorescence in the mesosphere. Nature 294, 431–432 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/294431a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/294431a0
- Springer Nature Limited