Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1971

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Abstract

A high resolution study of nighttime and daytime absorption of the sodium n2 line was made at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida (26°22'N latitude, 80°6 1W longitude) from October 1970 to April 1971 using a Pepsios (polyetalon pressure scanning interferometric optical spectrometer). Line scans were taken with photoelectric detection of the sodium D^2 line using sunlight in the daytime and moonlight in the nighttime. A computer analysis of the line scans determined the terrestrial free sodium abundance and the related uncertainty. The average monthly daytime sodium abundance for the winter was 5.32 ± 1.0 x 10^9 atoms/cm^2. Nighttime averages made by several procedures yielded sodium abundances for the winter months in the range 5.2 - 6.2 ± 4.0 x 10^9 atoms/cm^2. Separate averages made of the evening and morning moonlight traces were apparently affected in different ways by cumulus clouds or by sodium nightglow. This uncertainty of interpretation along with the generally poor signal to noise ratio for the moonlight data suggests that a low degree of confidence be given to the apparent agreement in average sodium abundances derived from these sunlight and moonlight measurements.

Extent

64 p.

Comments

FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1971.|Charles E. Schmidt College of Science|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Identifier

FADT13437

Format

pdf

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