Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufmsa21b1545t&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #SA21B-1545
Physics
0340 Middle Atmosphere: Composition And Chemistry, 0355 Thermosphere: Composition And Chemistry, 0358 Thermosphere: Energy Deposition (3369), 3334 Middle Atmosphere Dynamics (0341, 0342), 3369 Thermospheric Dynamics (0358)
Scientific paper
Nitric Oxide (NO) is a crucial minor species in the lower thermosphere. It plays a strong role in the thermospheric energy balance as it emits efficiently in the infrared, it is the terminal ion in the lower ionosphere, and if transported to lower altitudes will catalytically destroy ozone. NO is primarily produced through the reaction of excited atomic nitrogen with molecular oxygen. One of the primary loss mechanisms of NO is photodissociation by solar ultraviolet irradiance. In order to produce the excited atomic nitrogen atom, the strong N2 molecular bond must be broken. At low latitudes, solar soft X-ray irradiance is the energy source that leads to NO. At high latitudes, auroral electrons and the energetic secondary electrons provide the source of energy that leads to the large amounts of NO observed there. While the governing processes controlling production and loss of NO have been settled, our understanding of these processes is still evolving. In recent years there has been new progress in relevant chemical reaction rates and their temperature dependencies, diffusion rates, and the magnitude and variability of solar energy deposition. In this talk we discuss the new results and assess their impact with a 1D photochemical model. Model results will be compared to observations by the Student Nitric Oxide Explorer (SNOE). SNOE observed fluorescently scattered sunlight by NO at 215 and 237 nm to obtain global concentrations of NO in the lower thermosphere daily from February 1998 through December 2003.
Bailey Scott M.
Stern T. E.
Thirukoveluri P.
Yonker J. D.
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