The altitude of the scattering layer near the mesopause over the summer poles.

The time and latitude variation in the radiance and altitude of the dense scattering layers observed over the summer poles is reported using OGO 6 airglow photometer data. The average altitude was 84.3 km with a tendency for higher values on the night side than on the day side of the polar cap. The average radiance increased by a factor of 5 between day 163 and day 180 (1969), but decreased thereafter.