In this paper we demonstrate how ground-based measurements of selected airglow emission features may be used to determine the vertical distribution of atomic oxygen in the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere. The technique used is based on a method first suggested by Sharp and McDade <1996> and exploits differences between the kinetics of specific oxygen airglow features to determine key parameters related to the atomic oxygen vertical distribution. The technique is applied to ground-based measurements of the OI 557.7 nm green line, the O2 Atmospheric (0--1) band, and the OH Meinel (9--4) band emissions made at Cachoeira Paulista, Brazil (23 ¿S, 45 ¿W) from January 1987 to June 1994. In order to compare the results obtained here with observations, the derived atomic oxygen density profiles are used to forward calculate hydroxyl nightglow profiles which are then compared with profiles measured by the Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII) experiment on board the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS). This comparison shows good agreement for the seasonally averaged nocturnal behavior of both the peak altitude and the peak volume emission rate. ¿ 2001 American Geophysical Union