The several factors involved in the estimation of the location of the nightglow in the earth's upper atmosphere are discussed These include the extinction and scattering in the lower atmosphere, the correction for the finite field of view of the photometer, and the allowance for contamination of the observations by integrated starlight and zodiacal light The difficulty inherent in the inclusion of more than one upperatmosphere emission by a single filter is discussed. Application is made to the evaluation of the heights of the emissions [0 1] 5577, [Oi] 6300, and Na I 5893 based on averages of photometric observations for three complete nights at Cactus Peak, California. It is found that a significant upper-atmosphere component is included by a control filter at 5300 A. Within the probable uncertainty of the extinction coefficients, upper and lower limits of the deduced heights are: 5300 (78, 43 km); 5577(104, 62 km); 5893 (129,108 km); 6300 (143,116 km) The probable inclusion in the observations of a significant amount of OH means that the actual heights of the atomic emissions may be slightly greater than these mean heights for the composite emission.
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Roach et al. (1955) studied this question.