Analysis off airglow phenomena. (South Carolina Junior Academy Of Sciences Abstracts).

Airglow is an atmospheric phenomenon in which photons from the sun excite air molecules, which eventually emit light at several specific wavelengths. These emissions can provide valuable information about the dynamics of the upper atmosphere. In this experiment, airglow images were taken at Clemson's Atmospheric Research Laboratory (CARL) from October 2001 to December 2001. These images were processed in a number of manners including directional calibration, background subtraction, and Van Rhijn correction. This processing was accomplished by using both original code and the Viewer software developed by Jonathan Makela. Analysis of the images revealed several nights with interesting data. The focus of this project was a wave structure observed on the night of October 15. This structure consisted of two distinctly dim lines spaced 200 km or about 1 hour apart. Furthermore, this structure was found to move at 65 m/s to the north-east with a thickness of 10-12 km. A region of decreased intensity followed the second line. Based on these observations, the wave structure was classified as a bore. In addition to typical bore features, a unique "wishbone" characteristic was observed. Although more examples and further research are necessary before a complete explanation can be given, one possible explanation for this structure, a cold front, is discussed in the text.