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Energetic particle‐induced enhancements of stratospheric nitric acid
Author(s) -
Aikin Arthur C.
Publication year - 1994
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 - 10.1029/94gl00914
Subject(s) - nitric acid , ionization , ion , precipitation , particle (ecology) , nitrogen , charged particle , analytical chemistry (journal) , hydrogen , atmospheric chemistry , atmospheric sciences , chemistry , atomic physics , physics , meteorology , inorganic chemistry , environmental chemistry , ozone , geology , oceanography , organic chemistry
Inclusion of complete ion chemistry in the calculation of minor species production during energetic particle deposition events leads to significant enhancement in the calculated nitric acid concentration during precipitation. An ionization rate of 1.2×10 3 cm −3 s −1 imposed for 1 day increases HNO 3 from 3×10 5 to 6×10 7 cm −3 at 50 km. With an ionization rate of 600 cm −3 s −1 , the maximum HNO 3 is 3×10 7 cm −3 . Calculations which neglect negative ions predict that nitric acid will fall during precipitation events. The decay time for converting HNO 3 into odd nitrogen and hydrogen is more than 1 day for equinoctial periods at 70° latitude. Examination of nitric acid data should yield important information on the magnitude and frequency of charged particle events.