Anomalous oxygen is hot atomic and singly ionized oxygen believed to be present in Earth's exosphere above 500 km near the poles during their respective summers. This additional component augmenting mainly the hydrogen and helium exosphere is able to explain the unexpectedly high drag forces on satellites passing near the poles in their summers. Anomalous oxygen densities are included in the NRLMSISE-00 models of Earth's atmosphere.
References
- Keating, G. M., J. C. Leary, B. D. Green, O. M. Uy, R. C. Benson, R. E. Erlandson, T. E. Phillips, J. C. Lesho, and M. T. Boies, Neutral and ion drag effects near the exobase: MSX satellite measurements of He and O+, in Astrodynamics 1997: Advances in the Astronautical Sciences, vol. 97(1), edited by F. Hoots, B. Kaufman, P. Cefola, and D. Spencer, pp. 549–556, Am. Astronaut. Soc., San Diego, Calif., 1998.
- Picone, J. M.; Hedin, A. E.; Drob, D. P.; Aikin, A. C. (2002-12-01). "NRLMSISE-00 empirical model of the atmosphere: Statistical comparisons and scientific issues". Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics. 107 (A12): 1468. doi:10.1029/2002JA009430. ISSN 2156-2202.
 | This chemistry-related article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |
 | This meteorology–related article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |
 | This astrophysics-related article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |