HELIUM IONS IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE

Abstract

Reasons are given for believing that ion-atom interchange between He(+) and N2 i strongly endothermic but that ion-atom interchange between H E(+)and O2 is exothermic. It is concluded that the former ion-atom interchange proce s does not occur to an appreciable extent but that the latter may be responsible for the re oval of the He(+) being produced by photoionization. Calculations are carried out on the steady state. In harmony with the prediction of Nicolet He(+) is found to be abundant at great altitudes even if a high rate coefficient is assigned to the collision process leading to its removal. Attention is drawn to the possibility that dissociative recombination f HeO(+) is important in connection with the problem of the escape of helium into interplanetary space. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1962
Accession Number
AD0291785

Entities

People

  • D.r. Bates
  • T.n.l. Patterson

Organizations

  • Queen's University Belfast

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Altitude
  • Atmospheres
  • Coefficients
  • Collisions
  • Interplanetary Space
  • Photoionization
  • Steady State

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Educational Psychology
  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Plasma Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster
  • Space - Orbital Debris