We conclude from a study of the production and loss of O(1D) in auroras that the ''traditional'' sources, direct electron impact excitation of atomic oxygen and dissociative recombination of molecular oxygen ions, can account for most of the O I 6300-¿ emission rate. In a specific application of the model to the comprehensive observation of an auroral event by Sharp et al. (1979), we show that there is no compelling need for the reaction N(2D)+O2→NO+O(1D). We also present a study of the sensitivity of the red line emission rate to a wide variety of input conditions. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1989