ELECTRON COLLISION CROSS SECTIONS IN AIR AND THE EFFECTS OF ELEVATED GAS TEMPERATURES
Abstract
Elastic and inelastic electron scattering cross sections in air or its constituent gases are normally studied at low gas temperatures; therefore the initial state of the scatterer is the ground state. However, in the study of transport phenomena in gases, such as the propagation of intense electromagnetic waves through a reentry flow field where the gas temperature may easily reach a value on the order of 6,000 K and the electron temperature may be many times that value, it is necessary to include the effect of the scatterers being distributed in excited states as well as in the ground state. For the temperatures of interest, the states populated will be rotational and vibrational, with virtually no effect from excited electronic levels because they lie too high in energy above the ground state. The species considered are N, O, A, N2, O2, and NO and some of their ions. This report is intended as a catalogue of the best available cross sections for the various processes and is presented in a manner to be useful as an aid in transport phenomena calculations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0801619
Entities
People
- Carl J. Lenander
Organizations
- The Aerospace Corporation