O(1S) Effective Lifetimes

From the abstract of the referenced paper: Intensity time-series with a 0.05 s time resolution were obtained for the 428 nm N2+ (1NG) band and 558 nm O(1S) line emissions during intervals of rapidly fluctuating auroral intensities at Macquarie Island during 1988. Similar measurements have been used by previous workers to infer the effective lifetimes of the O(1S) state and the existence of, and percentage contribution from, an indirect excitation process.

Using 'constructed data' and an impulse function analysis technique, we introduce a method of analysis that shows that variations in the energy of the precipitating auroral electrons during the intensity fluctuations may be misinterpreted as an indirect excitation process of low percentage contribution. Subsequent to our analysis of the data presented here, we became aware of 'pulse pile-up' contaminations of our raw data files.