Premium
The impact on the ozone layer from NO x produced by terrestrial gamma ray flashes
Author(s) -
Cramer E. S.,
Briggs M. S.,
Liu N.,
Mailyan B.,
Dwyer J. R.,
Rassoul H. K.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2017gl073215
Subject(s) - stratosphere , ozone layer , ozone , atmospheric sciences , tropopause , ionization , atmosphere (unit) , ozone depletion , physics , environmental science , ion , meteorology , quantum mechanics
The motivation of this work is to understand the effects of terrestrial gamma ray flashes (TGFs) on the ozone layer. One of the main ozone‐destroying mechanisms is the production of NO x in the stratospheric region. NO x from lightning has been considered as a possible cause of ozone depletion, but probably little of this NO x is transported from the tropopause to the stratosphere. Since the energetic particles of TGFs travel from ≈12 km to space, the resulting ionization can produce NO x directly in the stratosphere. In order to quantify the production of stratospheric NO x from TGFs, we use the Runaway Electron Avalanche Model to simulate a typical setup of the acceleration region inside a thundercloud. The photons are then transported through the Earth's atmosphere, where they deposit some of their energy as ionization in the ozone layer. We then calculate the number of NO x molecules produced by considering the average energy required to produce one electron‐ion pair. Finally, the effect of TGF NO x production is estimated using the global annual rate of TGFs. It is estimated that the NO x production of TGFs is completely negligible compared to other sources, and therefore, TGFs have no effect on the ozone layer.