First experiment of spectrometric observation of hydroxyl emission and rotational temperature in the mesopause in China

A SpectroMeter of Atmospheric RadiaTion （SMART） was developed and installed at the Xinglong station of the National Astronomical Observatories in Hebei province, China, which was supported by the Meridian Project [1]. The experimental tests of spectrometric observation of the hydroxyl emission and rotational temperature in China were conducted for the first time on the night of February 23, 2011 and the night of April 27, 2011, respectively. OH 6-2 band and OH 8-3 band spectra were measured and the rotational temperature was retrieved. Hourly average temperatures （186.82±6.40） K of OH 8-3 band and （178.07±6.73） K of OH 6-2 band were derived from the spectra observed on the night of February 23,2011. Intensities and ro- tational temperature against local time were determined by the spectra measured in the whole night of April 27, 2011. The rotational temperature was consistent with the spatial average temperature of NRLMSISE00 empirical model at height 83-91 km and the average temperature of TIMED/SABER from April to May of seven years at height 83-91 kin, with some discrepancies. The results showed that the new instrument and the retrieval method of the rotational temperature can give reasonable results of the airglow emission of OH and the temperature of mesopause.