Reference models for thermospheric nitric oxide, 1994

Rocket and satellite measurements of nitric oxide have been made by observing the ultraviolet airglow from this molecule, Nitric oxide has been measured with an ultraviolet spectrometer on the polar-orbiting satellite Solar Mesosphere Explorer (SME) for the period January 1982 to August 1986, The nitric oxide database contains densities at all latitudes sorted into 5 degrees bins and at altitudes between 100 and 160 km sorted into 3.3-km bins, The largest densities occur at latitudes in the auroral zones where the density varies as a function of geomagnetic activity, At low latitudes, the nitric oxide density varies in response to changes in the solar soft x-ray and extreme ultraviolet radiation. Rocket experiments made at a mid-latitude launch site are compared to the satellite observations.