The question of whether a linear gravity wave will give rise to nonlinear effects in ground-based airglow observations is important for the proper interpretation of gravity wave dynamics. In this paper we obtain a closed form solution for the integrated airglow response to a linear gravity wave, containing all the higher-order nonlinear response terms. A comparison is made to the linear response, and the higher orders are seen to be significant. In addition, the wave-induced airglow intensity fluctuations are shown to be much greater than the corresponding major species density fluctuations. ¿American Geophysical Union 1991