Electronically excited molecular nitrogen and molecular oxygen in the high-latitude upper atmosphere

Relative vibrational populations of triplet B5g , W 1u, B ′36− u states of N2 and the b 16+ g state of O2 are calculated for different altitudes of the high-latitude upper atmosphere during auroral electron precipitation. It is shown that collisional processes cause a wavelength shift in the distribution of relative intensities for 1PG 1v=3 sequence of N2. The calculation of relative populations for vibrational levels v=1–5 of the b16+ g state in the auroral ionosphere has not given an agreement with experimental results. Preliminary estimation of the contribution of the reaction O+2 +NO to the production of O2(b6 g ) on the basis of a quantumchemical approximation does not allow for an explanation of the observable vibrational population of the b16+ g state in the aurora.