Nitric Oxide Ion and Uranium Oxide Ion Studies.
Abstract
The radiative lifetimes of infrared active ions are of particular importance in determining the background radiation in a disturbed atmosphere. The geomagnetic field striates ionic species causing these radiators to form a non-uniform background. Thus, even at lower concentration than molecular species, ions play a more important role in the analysis of disturbed atmospheric signatures. This research was undertaken to measure the radiative lifetime and quenching of vibrationally hot ions NO+ and UO+. These molecular ions are of particular importance because of their low ionization energies. Nitric oxide has the lowest ionization energy for those ions that can be formed from the natural atmospheric species, N2, O2, and O. The disappearance of NO+ in the upper atmosphere is dependent only on its dissociative recombination rate. The uranium oxide ion is endothermic to dissociative recombination, thus it is one of the most important metallic oxide ions in the upper atmosphere. Since its disappearance depends on three body recombination, this ion would be an important contributor to the 11-14 micrometers infrared signature in a disturbed atmosphere. The measurement of the radiative lifetime and transfer rate of vibration energy from NO+ to N2 has been measured and is presented in the Appendix.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1979
- Accession Number
- ADA077870
Entities
People
- Fritz Bien
Organizations
- Aerodyne Research