Using Far-Infrared Emissions to Understand the Thermosphere
Whitepaper #017 in the Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics) 2024-2033. Main topics: basic research; space weather applications. Additional topics: planetary ionospheres / upper atmospheres; user-need-driven basic space weather research; space weather [...]
by Kenneth Edmund Arnett, William Dean Pesnell, Christopher L. Holloway, Douglas E. Rowland, Dong L. Wu, and John Noto
Published onJul 31, 2023
Using Far-Infrared Emissions to Understand the Thermosphere
The thermosphere is largely composed of neutral atomic oxygen (O). Continuous O density monitoring using a constellation of CubeSats will provide real-time data for atmospheric heating/cooling models in addition to providing a means to accurately determine drag on constellations of low-earth-orbiting communications satellites. This data is fundamental to space weather prediction agencies.
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0)
