Possible Role of Vibrationally Excited Hydrogen in the Chemistry of the Earth's Upper Atmosphere

Abstract

The possible role of vibrationally excited H2(H2) on the budget of H2 in the earth's mesosphere and lower thermosphere is considered and found to be negligible (approx. 2% at 80 km). Our model includes production, chemical reactions, and quenching reactions of H2(v=0-5). We estimate that at 80 km, where H2 production is maximized, the rate of the H2 removing reaction O(3P)+ h2-> OH+H does not exceed 6.4 X 10(exp-12) cm/molec/sec for v=5, which is sufficiently slow that quenching removes most H2 before it can react with O(3P).

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 27, 1983
Accession Number
ADA275988

Entities

People

  • D. F. Strobel
  • J. A. Kaye

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aeronomy
  • Altitude
  • Atmospheric Physics
  • Chemical Reaction Properties
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Chemistry
  • Collisions
  • Dissociation
  • Energy
  • Energy Transfer
  • Frequency
  • Hydrogen
  • Mesosphere
  • Molecules
  • Photochemistry
  • Thermosphere
  • Trajectories

Readers

  • Mathematics or Statistics
  • Molecular Photonics/Laser Physics