Physics
Scientific paper
Nov 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007georl..3421106r&link_type=abstract
Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 34, Issue 21, CiteID L21106
Physics
3
Atmospheric Composition And Structure: Thermosphere: Composition And Chemistry, Atmospheric Composition And Structure: Thermosphere: Energy Deposition (3369), Ionosphere: Ionosphere/Atmosphere Interactions (0335)
Scientific paper
Mass spectrometer measurements during disturbed conditions have shown that heavier gases like N2 and Ar can be substantially enhanced while lighter gases like He can suffer moderate to severe depletions. Quantifying the changes in atomic and molecular oxygen is usually much more difficult as most mass spectrometers are not able to distinguish between ambient molecular oxygen and the molecular oxygen created by atomic oxygen-satellite surface reactions, but the paucity of molecular oxygen above 250 km normally allows one to attribute any molecular oxygen above 250 km to the recombination of atomic oxygen on a satellite surface. High resolution simulations presented in this study suggest that large amounts of molecular oxygen can be transported upwards by vertical winds during geomagnetic storms and that the neglect of this effect could mean that mass spectrometers are overestimating the concentrations of atomic oxygen. These overestimations can be quite significant; a mass spectrometer inferred atomic oxygen depletion of 50% at 280 km could mean that the atomic oxygen number densities are actually one-seventh of their quiet-time values while the simulated molecular oxygen concentrations are 25 times greater.
Jean-Pierre St.-Maurice
Noel J.-M.
Russell A. T.
Sica Robert J.
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