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Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology

Thermosphere: composition and chemistry

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Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Gravity Wave Propagation In A Diffusively Separated Gas: Effects On The Total Gas, Michael P. Hickey Ph.D., R. L. Walterscheid May 2012

Gravity Wave Propagation In A Diffusively Separated Gas: Effects On The Total Gas, Michael P. Hickey Ph.D., R. L. Walterscheid

Publications

We present a full-wave model that simulates acoustic-gravity wave propagation in a binary-gas mixture of atomic oxygen and molecular nitrogen, including molecular viscosity and thermal conductivity appropriately partitioned between the two gases. Compositional effects include the collisional transfer of heat and momentum by mutual diffusion between the two gases. An important result of compositional effects is that the velocity and temperature summed over species can be significantly different from the results of one-gas models with the same height dependent mean molecular weight (M(z)). We compare the results of our binary-gas model to two one-gas full-wave models: one where M is …


One-Gas Models With Height-Dependent Mean Molecular Weight: Effects On Gravity Wave Propagation, R. L. Walterscheid, Michael P. Hickey Ph.D. Dec 2001

One-Gas Models With Height-Dependent Mean Molecular Weight: Effects On Gravity Wave Propagation, R. L. Walterscheid, Michael P. Hickey Ph.D.

Publications

Many models of the thermosphere employ the one-gas approximation where the governing equations apply only to the total gas and the physical properties of the gas that depend on composition (mean molecular weight and specific heats) are height-dependent. It is further assumed that the physical properties of the gas are locally constant; thus motion-induced perturbations are nil. However, motion in a diffusively separated atmosphere perturbs local values of mean molecular weight and specific heats. These motion-induced changes are opposed by mutual diffusion of the constituent gases, which attempts to restore diffusive equilibrium. Assuming that composition is locally constant is equivalent …


New Sources For The Hot Oxygen Geocorona: Solar Cycle, Seasonal, Latitudinal, And Diurnal Variations, Michael P. Hickey Ph.D., P. G. Richards, D. G. Torr Sep 1995

New Sources For The Hot Oxygen Geocorona: Solar Cycle, Seasonal, Latitudinal, And Diurnal Variations, Michael P. Hickey Ph.D., P. G. Richards, D. G. Torr

Publications

This paper demonstrates the variability of thermospheric sources of hot oxygen atoms. Numerical calculations were performed for day and night, high and low solar activity, summer and winter, and low- and middle-latitude conditions. Under most conditions, reactions involving metastable species are more important hot O sources than previously considered dissociative recombination of O2+ and NO+. All the hot O sources are an order of magnitude lower at midnight than at noon. At night, dissociative recombination of O2+and NO+ are the most important sources. Quenching of vibrationally excited N2 (N2*) by O is the most important metastable source at night. Above …


Comparison Of Theories For Gravity Wave Induced Fluctuations In Airglow Emissions, R. L. Walterscheid, G. Schubert, Michael P. Hickey Ph.D. Mar 1994

Comparison Of Theories For Gravity Wave Induced Fluctuations In Airglow Emissions, R. L. Walterscheid, G. Schubert, Michael P. Hickey Ph.D.

Publications

A comparison is undertaken of theories for the gravity wave induced fluctuations in the intensity of airglow emissions and the associated temperature of the source region. The comparison is made in terms of Krassovsky's ratio ηE for a vertically extended emission region (ηE is the ratio of the vertically integrated normalized intensity perturbation to the vertically integrated normalized intensity-weighted temperature perturbation). It is shown that the formulas for ηE in the works by Tarasick and Hines (1990) and Schubert et al. (1991) are in agreement for the case of an inviscid atmosphere. The calculation of ηE using the theory of …