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Hot oxygen atoms in the upper atmosphere of Venus
Author(s) -
Nagy A. F.,
Cravens T. E.,
Yee JH.,
Stewart A. I. F.
Publication year - 1981
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/gl008i006p00629
Subject(s) - exosphere , atmosphere of venus , hydrogen , venus , oxygen , atomic physics , atmosphere (unit) , dissociative recombination , ion , orbiter , hot atom , aeronomy , physics , materials science , astrobiology , chemistry , recombination , meteorology , astronomy , quantum mechanics , biochemistry , gene
The energy distribution of “hot” oxygen atoms in the upper atmosphere of Venus was calculated using two different numerical methods. The two different approaches were based on 1) 2‐stream transport and 2) diffusion equation considerations. Dissociative recombination of molecular oxygen ions and charge exchange of atomic oxygen ions with the neutral hydrogen and oxygen gas were the source terms considered; the calculations show that the dissociative recombination term is the dominant one. The altitude distribution of the hot oxygen atoms above the exobase was also calculated and compared with measurements by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter Ultraviolet Spectrometer. The calculated densities show an altitude dependence similar to that obtained by the measurements, but are larger by a factor of about four to five. We find that the concentration of hot oxygen atoms is comparable to or exceeds that of thermal hydrogen atoms throughout much of the dayside exosphere.