Chemical Kinetics and Modeling the Flow of Energy in the Earth's Upper Atmosphere

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0310 Airglow And Aurora, 0317 Chemical Kinetic And Photochemical Properties, 0342 Middle Atmosphere: Energy Deposition, 0358 Thermosphere: Energy Deposition

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The fundamental physical difference between the radiative balance of the terrestrial mesosphere and thermosphere and that of the atmosphere below is the departure from local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) that occurs for all significant radiatively active gases. Under non-LTE the distribution of energy within the quantum states of these gases is no longer determined solely by collisions with other atmospheric constituents. Instead, radiative and chemical processes are competitive with collisional processes in determining the quantum state populations. In addition, the dominant collisional processes often involve atomic oxygen, a minor constituent whose abundance is virtually impossible to measure directly using satellite remote sensing techniques. The departure from LTE dramatically impacts the radiative balance of the upper atmosphere. In this talk we will review some of the major radiative cooling mechanisms of the terrestrial upper atmosphere and discuss the role chemical kinetics plays in determining the quantum state populations, the rates of radiative emission, the rates of radiative cooling, and hence the thermal structure. An illustration of these effects as dramatically demonstrated by the upper atmosphere's response to the solar storms of April 2002 will be presented.

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