Effect of solar activity on 8446 Å and 7320 Å airglow emissions

Abstract

The atomic oxygen airglow emission at 8446 Å and 7320 Å occurs at nearly 180 – 220km altitude region. These emissions occur due to solar EUV radiation and are very sensitive to the solar EUV flux. These emissions can provide valuable information about the atomic oxygen density and solar activity. We have developed a comprehensive model to study these emissions with the varying solar activity. These two emissions are studied with the help of the newly introduced Solar Irradiance Platform which gives the absolute values of solar flux for any given date and time. We present the results of modeling done over the present solar cycle, starting from 2001 which was an year of solar maximum. For the sake of modeling a mid latitude station at 35N 45E is chosen and the day of the year is chosen to be 3rd April. The results of intensity arepresented as a function of F10.7 flux index. The results show a very strong dependence over this index.