The technique of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with a field-widened Michelson interferometer has been used to realize improved auroral observations of the [N I> 3F (2P¿ → 2D¿) multiplet. Time-resolved spectra (spectral resolution ≈2.5 cm-1) were acquired at the rate 1 per ≈20 s. Under the extant conditions, the 2P¿ → 2D¿3/2 and 2P¿ → 2D¿5/2 components of this multiplet were fully resolved, and its blending with the rotational structure of the N2 1P (0,0) band was significantly reduced. Reliable component emission rates were extracted from the spectrally blended data by fitting a set of critically evaluated, high-quality synthetic spectral components to the data in a least squares sense. These improved observations have yielded an intramultiplet intensity ratio [(2P¿ → 2D¿5/2)/(2P¿ → D¿3/2)> in agreement with the theoretical statistical equilibrium ratio for a wide range of auroral heights. In addition, a strong correlation of the [N I> 3F emission rate with that of the [O I> 1F multiplet (&lgr;6300 ¿) has been established, and the nascent yield of N(2P¿), relative to N2+, associated with energetic e-N2(X) collisions has been estimated using data from an unusually high altitude nightside aurora. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1989