Wolfram Library Archive


Courseware Demos MathSource Technical Notes
All Collections Articles Books Conference Proceedings
Title

Effect of Vibrationally Excited Oxygen on Ozone Production
Authors

K. Patten
P. Connell
D. Kinnison
D. Wuebbles
Journal / Anthology

Journal of Geophysical Research
Year: 1994
Volume: 99
Issue: D1
Page range: 1211-1223
Description

Photolysis of vibrationally excited oxygen produced by ultraviolet photolysis of ozone in the upper stratosphere is incorporated into the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory two-dimensional zonally averaged chemical-radiative-transport model of the troposphere and stratosphere. The importance of this potential contributor of odd oxygen to the concentration of ozone is evaluated based on recent information on vibrational distributions of excited oxygen and on preliminary studies of energy transfer from the excited oxygen. When energy transfer rate constants similar to those of Toumi et al. [1991] are assumed, increases in model ozone concentrations of up to 4.0% in the upper stratosphere are found, and the model ozone concentrations are found to agree slightly better with measurements, including recent data from the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite. However, the ozone increase is only 0.3% when the larger energy transfer rate constants indicated by recent experimental work are applied to the model. An ozone increase of 1% at 50 km requires energy transfer rate constants one-twentieth those of the preliminary observations. As a result, vibrationally excited oxygen processes probably do not contribute enough ozone to be significant in models of the upper stratosphere.
Subject

*Science > Geology and Geophysics