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Gold Level L2 ratio of the column abundance of thermospheric O relative to N2

Published by CDAWeb | National Aeronautics and Space Administration | Catalog Last Checked: August 12, 2026 at 12:49 AM | Dataset Last Updated: August 10, 2026
GOLD daytime disk scan (DAY) measurements are used to derive the ratio of the column abundance of thermospheric O relative to N2, conventionally referred to as O/N2 or ΣO/N2, but abbreviated to ON2 for the GOLD data product. ON2 is derived from dayside Level 1C data after binning pixels 2x2 for approximately 68 disk scan measurements performed per day by GOLD in nominal operation. Algorithm heritage The disk ON2 retrieval algorithm was originally developed by Computational Physics, Inc. (CPI) for use with GUVI and SSUSI radiance images (Strickland et al., 1995). The GOLD implementation of this algorithm takes advantage of GOLD's ability to transmit the full spectrum to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio and eliminate atomic emission lines that contaminate the N2 LBH bands (e.g., N I 149.3 nm). This algorithm has been extensively documented and applied over the past several decades (e.g., Evans et al. [1995]; Christensen et al. [2003]; Strickland et al. [2004]) and Correira et al. [2021] describe the implementation used for the GOLD data. Algorithm theoretical basis The geophysical parameter retrieved, O/N2, is the ratio of the vertical column density of O relative to N2, defined at a standard reference N2 depth of 1017 cm-2, which is chosen to minimize uncertainty in the derived O/N2. It is retrieved directly from the ratio of the O I 135.6 nm and N2 LBH band intensities measured by GOLD on the dayside disk (DAY measurement mode). The AURIC atmospheric radiance model (Strickland et al. [1999]) is used to derive this relationship as a function of solar zenith angle and to create the look-up table (LUT) used by the algorithm. References Christensen, A. B., et al. (2003), Initial observations with the Global Ultraviolet Imager (GUVI) in the NASA TIMED satellite mission, J. Geophys. Res., vol. 108, NO. A12, 1451, doi:10.1029/2003JA009918. Correira, J., Evans, J. S., Lumpe, J. D., Krywonos, A., Daniell, R., Veibell, V., et al. (2021). Thermospheric composition and solar EUV flux from the Globalscale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 126, e2021JA029517. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JA029517 Evans, J. S., D. J. Strickland and R. E. Huffman (1995), Satellite remote sensing of thermospheric O/N2 and solar EUV: 2. Data analysis, J. Geophys. Res., vol. 100, NO. A7, pages 12,227-12,233. Strickland, D. J., R. R. Meier, R. L. Walterscheid, J. D. Craven, A. B. Christensen, L. J. Paxton, D. Morrison, and G. Crowley (2004), Quiet-time seasonal behavior of the thermosphere seen in the far ultraviolet dayglow, J. Geophys. Res., vol. 109, A01302, doi:10.1029/2003JA010220. Strickland, D.J., J. Bishop, J.S. Evans, T. Majeed, P.M. Shen, R.J. Cox, R. Link, and R.E. Huffman (1999), Atmospheric Ultraviolet Radiance Integrated Code (AURIC): theory, software architecture, inputs and selected results, JQSRT, 62, 689-742. Strickland, D. J., J. S. Evans, and L. J. Paxton (1995), Satellite remote sensing of thermospheric O/N2 and solar EUV: 1. Theory, J. Geophys. Res., 110, A7, pages 12,217-12,226.

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Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel public
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contactPoint 
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description GOLD daytime disk scan (DAY) measurements are used to derive the ratio of the column abundance of thermospheric O relative to N2, conventionally referred to as O/N2 or ΣO/N2, but abbreviated to ON2 for the GOLD data product. ON2 is derived from dayside Level 1C data after binning pixels 2x2 for approximately 68 disk scan measurements performed per day by GOLD in nominal operation. Algorithm heritage The disk ON2 retrieval algorithm was originally developed by Computational Physics, Inc. (CPI) for use with GUVI and SSUSI radiance images (Strickland et al., 1995). The GOLD implementation of this algorithm takes advantage of GOLD's ability to transmit the full spectrum to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio and eliminate atomic emission lines that contaminate the N2 LBH bands (e.g., N I 149.3 nm). This algorithm has been extensively documented and applied over the past several decades (e.g., Evans et al. [1995]; Christensen et al. [2003]; Strickland et al. [2004]) and Correira et al. [2021] describe the implementation used for the GOLD data. Algorithm theoretical basis The geophysical parameter retrieved, O/N2, is the ratio of the vertical column density of O relative to N2, defined at a standard reference N2 depth of 1017 cm-2, which is chosen to minimize uncertainty in the derived O/N2. It is retrieved directly from the ratio of the O I 135.6 nm and N2 LBH band intensities measured by GOLD on the dayside disk (DAY measurement mode). The AURIC atmospheric radiance model (Strickland et al. [1999]) is used to derive this relationship as a function of solar zenith angle and to create the look-up table (LUT) used by the algorithm. References Christensen, A. B., et al. (2003), Initial observations with the Global Ultraviolet Imager (GUVI) in the NASA TIMED satellite mission, J. Geophys. Res., vol. 108, NO. A12, 1451, doi:10.1029/2003JA009918. Correira, J., Evans, J. S., Lumpe, J. D., Krywonos, A., Daniell, R., Veibell, V., et al. (2021). Thermospheric composition and solar EUV flux from the Globalscale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 126, e2021JA029517. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JA029517 Evans, J. S., D. J. Strickland and R. E. Huffman (1995), Satellite remote sensing of thermospheric O/N2 and solar EUV: 2. Data analysis, J. Geophys. Res., vol. 100, NO. A7, pages 12,227-12,233. Strickland, D. J., R. R. Meier, R. L. Walterscheid, J. D. Craven, A. B. Christensen, L. J. Paxton, D. Morrison, and G. Crowley (2004), Quiet-time seasonal behavior of the thermosphere seen in the far ultraviolet dayglow, J. Geophys. Res., vol. 109, A01302, doi:10.1029/2003JA010220. Strickland, D.J., J. Bishop, J.S. Evans, T. Majeed, P.M. Shen, R.J. Cox, R. Link, and R.E. Huffman (1999), Atmospheric Ultraviolet Radiance Integrated Code (AURIC): theory, software architecture, inputs and selected results, JQSRT, 62, 689-742. Strickland, D. J., J. S. Evans, and L. J. Paxton (1995), Satellite remote sensing of thermospheric O/N2 and solar EUV: 1. Theory, J. Geophys. Res., 110, A7, pages 12,217-12,226.
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identifier https://doi.org/10.48322/wjrk-dk56
keyword 
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landingPage https://doi.org/10.48322/wjrk-dk56
license https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified 2026-08-10
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theme 
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title Gold Level L2 ratio of the column abundance of thermospheric O relative to N2

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