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A potential new source of OH and odd‐nitrogen in the atmosphere
Author(s) -
Toumi R.
Publication year - 1993
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 - 10.1029/92gl03014
Subject(s) - radical , atmosphere (unit) , ozone , nitrogen , quenching (fluorescence) , atmospheric chemistry , excited state , oxygen , atmospheric sciences , chemistry , atomic physics , physics , meteorology , organic chemistry , fluorescence , optics
HO x (OH+HO 2 ) and NO x (NO+NO 2 ) radicals play a key role in controlling global ozone. However, several atmospheric measurements of these species are larger than current model calculations suggest. The oxidation of H 2 and N 2 O by the second electronically excited state of oxygen, O 2 (b 1 Σ g + ), is theoretically possible and proposed here as an atmospheric source of these radicals. If only 1% of the quenching of O 2 (b 1 Σ g + ) by H 2 and N 2 O results in the proposed oxidation products (OH and NO+NO 2 ), then model calculations predict a significant production of these radicals in exactly those regions of the atmosphere were current models seem to fail.