Atmospheric gravity wave signatures in the infrared hydroxyl OH airglow

Atmospheric gravity wave induced airglow fluctuations of the hydroxyl OH Meinel and other bands are: routinely observed using CCD imagers operating in the near infrared wavelength region. Farther into the infrared, the intensity of the OH emissions is much greater. Recently, a new IR imaging camera was modified for infrared viewing of the night sky with approximately 1 steradian field of view. The filter had a center wavelength of 1467 nm and a bandwidth of 177 nm to include components of the OH (Delta v = 2) band. The images show good signal-to-noise ratios of 180 with 10 second:exposures. Cross-spectral and wavelet analysis:were used to obtain spatial and temporal information about observed airglow fluctuations, and horizontal wavelengths and wave periods as short as 3.7 km and 3 min, respectively, were determined.