Absolute auroral emission of several bands of the 1 PG (first positive), 2 PG, and Vegard-Kaplan systems of N2 and of the 1 NG (first negative) system of N2 + were obtained from simulataneous spectral scans of two Ebert spectrophotometers mounted on board the NASA CV 990 aircraft. Analysis of the observations shows that the emission rates in the 2 PG system are in good agreement with predictions based on laboratory and theoretical excitation cross sections (all of which have about the same value at the peak) and that the total system emission rate can be predicted from a model based on the emission rate of the N2 + 1 NG bands and spectroscopic ratio derived by Rees and Luckey (1974). Observed absolute emission rates of five bands of the 1 PG system can be reprodued very well by using the apparent excitation cross sections obtained from laboratory experiments by Shemansky and Broadfoot (1971a). Quenching coefficients for the v¿=1 and v'=2 levels of the A3&Sgr;u state are derived by combining observed emission rates with excitation rates predicted from cascading and electron impact excitation. A large uncertainty in the contribution from electron impact results in a substantial uncertainty in the v'=2 quenching coefficient, but the v'=1 level is populated principally by cascading, and a quenching rate coefficient of 1.4¿0.8¿10-10 cm3 s-1 is obtained for collisions with atomic oxygen.