Vol. 16, issue 02, article # 5

Abstract:

A method is developed for calculation of the chemical lifetime of atmospheric constituents, in particular, of the odd oxygen family t(O_X). The values of t(O_X) calculated at different altitudes in the atmosphere are presented and compared with the results calculated by other authors. A significant discrepancy in the calculated results is found for the altitudes below 30 km. The new values of t(O_X) turned out to be 20-8000 times smaller than the previous ones. Causes for such a discrepancy are discussed, and it is found that the main causes are the neglect of the effect of nitrogen oxides on t(O_X) in the previous calculations and unclear formulation and solution of the problem on t(O_X) calculation. It is concluded that at the altitudes of 10-50 km the odd oxygen family, including atmospheric ozone, in daytime is in the state of photochemical equilibrium or the state close to photochemical equilibrium. A new method is proposed for theoretical calculation of the concentration of atomic oxygen in the atmosphere taking into account the photochemical equilibrium of the odd oxygen family and the presence of nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere. An equation is derived for calculation of the vertical ozone distribution taking into account the photochemical equilibrium of the odd oxygen family and the presence of nitrogen and chlorine oxides and other constituents in the atmosphere.