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Absorption of light in the atmosphere by collision pairs of oxygen (O 2 ) 2
Author(s) -
Perner D.,
Platt U.
Publication year - 1980
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/gl007i012p01053
Subject(s) - atmosphere (unit) , absorption (acoustics) , metastability , excited state , oxygen , infrared , atomic physics , collision , atmosphere of earth , atmospheric composition , physics , materials science , atmospheric sciences , optics , meteorology , computer security , quantum mechanics , computer science
Atmospheric absorption bands by collision complexes of oxygen have been measured in long path optical experiments. About 1.5×10 −3 of the incoming solar energy is absorbed by the O 4 bands in the near uv, visible and near infrared spectral regions. A larger fraction of this energy goes into the 2 km layer above the surface. The possible consequences of excited metastable (O 2 ) 2 molecules for atmospheric chemistry are discussed.