Loading...
Please wait, while we are loading the content...
Similar Documents
Kinetics of fast atoms in the terrestrial atmosphere
| Content Provider | NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
|---|---|
| Author | Dalgarno, A. Kharchenko, Vasili A. |
| Copyright Year | 2002 |
| Description | This report summarizes our investigations performed under NASA Grant NAG5-8058. The three-year research supported by the Geospace Sciences SR&T program (Ionospheric, Thermospheric, and Mesospheric Physics) has been designed to investigate fluxes of energetic oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the terrestrial thermosphere. Fast atoms are produced due to absorption of the solar radiation and due to coupling between the ionosphere and the neutral thermospheric gas. We have investigated the impact of hot oxygen and nitrogen atoms on the thermal balance, chemistry and radiation properties of the terrestrial thermosphere. Our calculations have been focused on the accurate quantitative description of the thermalization of O and N energetic atoms in collisions with atom and molecules of the ambient neutral gas. Upward fluxes of oxygen and nitrogen atoms, the rate of atmospheric heating by hot oxygen atoms, and the energy input into translational and rotational-vibrational degrees of atmospheric molecules have been evaluated. Altitude profiles of hot oxygen and nitrogen atoms have been analyzed and compared with available observational data. Energetic oxygen atoms in the terrestrial atmosphere have been investigated for decades, but insufficient information on the kinetics of fast atmospheric atoms has been a main obstacle for the interpretation of observational data and modeling of the hot geocorona. The recent development of accurate computational methods of the collisional kinetics is seen as an important step in the quantitative description of hot atoms in the thermosphere. Modeling of relaxation processes in the terrestrial atmosphere has incorporated data of recent observations, and theoretical predictions have been tested by new laboratory measurements. |
| File Size | 997674 |
| Page Count | 18 |
| File Format | |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://archive.org/details/NASA_NTRS_Archive_20020041253 |
| Archival Resource Key | ark:/13960/t8nd0x38d |
| Language | English |
| Publisher Date | 2002-04-01 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Geophysics Thermosphere Hot Atoms Oxygen Atoms Atmospheric Temperature Atmospheric Chemistry Nitrogen Atoms Earth Ionosphere Kinetics Atmospheric Radiation Ntrs Nasa Technical Reports Server (ntrs) Nasa Technical Reports Server Aerodynamics Aircraft Aerospace Engineering Aerospace Aeronautic Space Science |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Technical Report |
