Nitric oxide in the middle to upper thermosphere

Journal Article · Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1992 · Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/91JA02657· OSTI ID:5556584

Siskind, D E ^[1]; Rusch, D W ^[2]

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1. NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA (United States)
2. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder (United States)

The authors review the results of six rocket of thermospheric nitric oxide and attempt to reconcile them with the available laboratory photochemical data. Specifically, they assess the impact of the recently revised recommendation for the N({sup S}) + O{sub 2} rate coefficient on photochemical models. Use of the new rate coefficient lead to a significantly enhanced production of NO, particularly at F region altitudes during solar maximum conditions. A comparison of photochemical calculations with the rocket profiles indicates that the new rate coefficient introduces a significant discrepancy which can be resolved if the recombination reaction of N + NO is temperature dependent. The best fit value for the N + NO rate coefficient at thermospheric temperatures is 1.6 {times} 10{sup {minus}10} exp ({minus}(460 {plus minus} 60)T). The temperature dependence of this rate coefficient disagrees with the current recommendation from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, but it is in better agreement with another, earlier laboratory measurement. Calculations using the proposed rate coefficient predict the NO solar cycle variation at 180 m to be less than at 140 km which is also in agreement with the observations. It is likely that the use of these new rate coefficients will affect calculations of the thermal budget of the upper atmosphere as well as the downward transport of NO into the middle atmosphere.

• OSTI ID: 5556584
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Vol. 97:A3; ISSN 0148-0227
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
THERMOSPHERE
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
F REGION
INTERACTIONS
NITRIC OXIDE
PHOTOCHEMISTRY
RECOMBINATION
ROCKETS
STRATOSPHERE
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TRACE AMOUNTS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMISTRY
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EVALUATION
IONOSPHERE
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN OXIDES
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
661320* - Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magnetospheric Phenomena- (1992-)