Scanning Radiometer observations of hydroxyl airglow over Davis, Antarctica, 1999-2016

These are 1 minute sampled low resolution 'images' of the hydroxyl airglow layer over Davis station, Antarctica (68 degrees S,78 degrees E) derived using a scanning radiometer developed at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. The scans are a 16x16 pixel array and represent hydroxyl airglow variations in a small region (24x24 km) of the night sky in the zenith, approximately 87km above Davis. The instantaneous field-of-view of the 12cm aperture catadioptric telescope is 1 degrees, or a 1.5km radius field at the airglow layer height. Dwell time per 'pixel' is 0.22 sec. The instrument is sensitive in the 1.0 - 1.6 micron infrared region, which encompasses the bright hydroxyl (2-0), (3-1), (4-2) and (5-3) ro-vibrational bands. Observations are made in all cloud conditions between civil twilight (Sun less than 6 degrees below horizon) each year (between about the 6-Feb and 5-Nov at Davis).