Electronically excited molecular nitrogen and molecular oxygen in the high-latitude upper atmosphere

Relative vibrational populations of triplet B(3)Pi(g), W(3)Delta(u), B'(3)Sigma(-)(u) states of N(2) and the b(1)Sigma(+)(g) state of O(2) are calculated for different altitudes of the high-latitude upper atmosphere during auroral electron precipitation. It is shown that collisional processes cause a wavelength shift in the distribution of relative intensities for 1PG Delta upsilon=3 sequence of N(2). The calculation of relative populations for vibrational levels upsilon=1-5 of the b(1)Sigma(+)(g) state in the auroral ionosphere has not given an agreement with experimental results. Preliminary estimation of the contribution of the reaction O(2)(+) + NO to the production of O(2)(b(1)Sigma(+)(g)) on the basis of a quantum-chemical approximation does not allow for an explanation of the observable vibrational population of the b(1)Sigma(+)(g) state in the aurora.