Accession Number:

ADA230256

Title:

Role of Carbon Dioxide in Cooling Planetary Thermospheres

Descriptive Note:

Corporate Author:

AIR FORCE SYSTEMS COMMAND HANSCOM AFB MA GEOPHYSICS LAB

Personal Author(s):

• Sharma, Ramesh D.
• Wintersteiner, Peter P.

Report Date:

1990-11-01

Pagination or Media Count:

5.0

Abstract:

A new value of the rate coefficient for the deactivation of the bending mode of carbon dioxide by atomic oxygen at low temperatures is derived from the observation of 15 mum emission from the atmosphere of the Earth. This new value gives a cooling rate for the lower thermosphere that is two to three times the rate previously calculated, and it may resolve a long-standing problem in the Mars-Venus aeronomy.

Descriptors:

• *CARBON DIOXIDE
• *EARTH ATMOSPHERE
• PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES
• COOLING

Subject Categories:

• Atmospheric Physics
• Inorganic Chemistry

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE