A new means for observation of small comets and other water-laden bodies entering earth's upper atmosphere

This paper shows that the infrared radiance of comet-associated water vapor clouds described by Frank et al. (1986b) is large relative to natural background emissions. This IR emission arises from scattering of solar radiation and earth-shine and from excitation by upper atmospheric atomic oxygen. As a consequence, observations in space or from high-altitude platforms should provide an unambiguous signature of the entry of such objects into earth's atmosphere.