Atmospheric non-local thermodynamic equilibrium emissions as observed by the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS)

In this article we report the most recent advances of our knowledge of non-LTE atmospheric emissions gained from the MIPAS spectra on the Envisat satellite. These include improvements in our knowledge: of the collisional processes between the CO2 (10(0)1), (02(2)1), and (02(0)1) vibrational levels; of the nascent distribution and collisional relaxation of the 03 vibrational states; and of the vibrational-vibrational energy transfer rates between H2O(020) and O-2. In addition we report: the first evidence of mesospheric CH4 nu(4) 7.6-mu m emission; much lower non-LTE populations of the NO2(nu(3) = 1-4) in the daytime stratosphere than previously thought; the first experimental confirmation of the non-LTE excitation of NO(1) in the daytime stratosphere; and the first detection of the CO first hot band non-LTE emission near 4.7 mu m.