Brewer-Dobson circulation 2026-10-20
The wave-driven mean stratospheric circulation with tropical ascent and extratropical descent. Changes in wave propagation and momentum deposition can alter its strength and transport times. Its response redistributes ozone and trace gases; local chemistry and transport must be considered together.
Bromine monoxide 2026-10-20
The radical participates in catalytic atmospheric ozone destruction. Its measured abundance is only one partition of the total bromine inventory; precursor delivery, photodissociation and reservoir reactions determine the relation between the two.
Chapman ozone equilibrium Created 2026-09-28 Updated 2026-11-05
Chapman ozone equilibrium balances production and destruction of atomic oxygen and ozone in a minimal oxygen-only atmospheric photochemistry model. Write square brackets for number densities. Define photolysis rate coefficients and collisional rate constants by
The collision partner removes excess formation energy without being consumed. The third-body requirement reflects conservation of energy and momentum conservation during ozone formation.[ref]
Adding the reaction rate equations for atomic oxygen and ozone cancels their rapid interconversion. A local steady state gives
If ozone loss is predominantly photolytic, , its separate balance is
Combining the two balances yields
The two factors of two in oxygen-atom production and destruction cancel in the first balance. This is a sunlit local steady state, with specified temperature, radiation and background number densities; transport and additional catalytic chemistry need not obey this four-reaction estimate.
For competing irreversible pseudo-first-order channels with rates , the fraction following channel is when those conditions stay fixed during the intermediate's lifetime. A photochemical destruction rate must count only branches that actually remove the chosen species after fast recycling. For excited oxygen, collisional deactivation followed by ozone reformation is different from reaction with water to make hydroxyl radicals.
Chlorine monoxide 2026-10-20
The radical formed when a chlorine atom reacts with ozone. Its reaction partners and reservoirs depend on altitude and temperature; the chlorine monoxide dimer cycle is important under cold, activated polar conditions.
A low-temperature catalytic ozone destruction pathway involving ClO association to ClOOCl, photodissociation of the dimer and regeneration of chlorine atoms. Combined with two Cl + O3 reactions its net effect is . Low temperature suppresses thermal dimer dissociation, while sunlight is needed for the photolytic step. Polar stratospheric clouds can activate reservoir chlorine before the sunlit cycle becomes rapid.
Chlorofluorocarbon 2026-10-20
A compound composed of carbon, chlorine and fluorine, with no hydrogen. Many such fully halogenated molecules resist lower-atmospheric attack but release reactive chlorine after stratospheric photodissociation, contributing to catalytic ozone destruction.
ClOOCl dimer Created 2026-10-20 Updated 2026-11-05
The chlorine peroxide structure formed by association of two ClO radicals with collisional stabilization. Its low-temperature stability and photodissociation provide a route for catalytic ozone destruction. In a laboratory flow system, changing among three ClO precursors and examining infrared spectra helped distinguish the predominant ClOOCl product from an alternative ClOClO isomer. Product assignment and ultraviolet absorption support the proposed intermediate, but do not alone measure an entire atmospheric cycle's ozone-loss rate.[ref]
Lightning 2026-10-20
An atmospheric electrical discharge. Its high-temperature chemistry can produce nitrogen oxides, influencing ozone and radical chemistry away from surface emission sources. The ozone response depends on subsequent transport and the local chemical regime.
L. T. Molina Created 2026-10-20 Updated 2026-11-05
L. T. Molina coauthored experiments with Mario Molina on production of chlorine peroxide from the self-reaction of chlorine monoxide. The work used a low-temperature flow system and infrared and ultraviolet identification of the product.
The dimer provides an intermediate in the chlorine monoxide dimer cycle, which can destroy ozone catalytically. Identifying the intermediate links an atmospheric reaction scheme to a laboratory observation.[ref]
The atmospheric boundary layer over an ocean surface. A box-model ozone budget can include in-layer production, chemical loss, dry deposition, entrainment from the free troposphere and horizontal Advection. Fixed-depth local steady-state assumptions must be checked against transport and day–night variation.
Mario Molina Created 2026-10-24 Updated 2026-11-05
Mario Molina coauthored low-temperature experiments on the self-reaction of chlorine monoxide. Infrared and ultraviolet measurements identified formation of the dimer associated with the chlorine monoxide dimer cycle.
A laboratory intermediate supplies a concrete link between a proposed catalytic cycle and an atmospheric ozone budget. Dimer formation, thermal dissociation, and photodissociation compete, so its abundance and its ozone-loss effect are separate quantities.[ref]
In the productive mixed-radical pathway, chlorine monoxide and BrO yield chlorine and bromine atoms; subsequent atom reactions with ozone regenerate the oxides. The net cycle consumes two ozone molecules per radical-pair event, giving when the subsequent steps are fast. The branching of a real chlorine monoxide–BrO reaction must be included if not already absorbed into its specified effective rate coefficient.
Nicola J. Warwick Created 2026-10-20 Updated 2026-11-05
Nicola J. Warwick coauthored modelling of the atmospheric and climatic effects of a future hydrogen economy. The analysis separates leaked molecular hydrogen from changes in other emissions associated with energy-system replacement.
Hydrogen leakage can alter atmospheric oxidation chemistry, affecting methane and ozone. Consequently, the climate effect depends on both leakage and the emissions displaced by the new system.[ref]
Nitrogen dioxide 2026-10-20
The atmospheric nitrogen oxide . Daylight photodissociation forms nitrogen monoxide and an oxygen atom; subsequent third-body recombination with oxygen forms ozone. Whether this makes net ozone depends on the pathway that regenerated nitrogen dioxide.
Nitrogen monoxide 2026-10-20
The atmospheric nitrogen oxide . It consumes ozone when converted to nitrogen dioxide by , but its oxidation by peroxy radicals instead enables net photochemical ozone production.
A regime in which additional available nitrogen oxides tends to increase net photochemical ozone production when other factors are fixed. Reducing nitrogen oxides generally suppresses that production, but local ozone concentration also depends on transport, deposition and NO titration.
A regime in which additional nitrogen oxides promote net tropospheric ozone production because NO availability limits peroxy-radical oxidation of NO. Reducing NOx then generally lowers ozone production, subject to transport and chemical history. At much larger NOx burdens, OH removal by nitric-acid formation can instead produce a VOC-limited ozone-production regime.
Nonbiological molecular oxygen can accumulate when photochemistry and planetary redox sinks allow it, for example after water photolysis and hydrogen loss. Ozone produced from that oxygen is not independent proof of a biological source. The stellar spectrum, water inventory, atmospheric escape and other gases constrain these interpretations.
Oxygen singlet D atom 2026-10-20
An electronically excited atomic oxygen state produced in part by ozone photodissociation. Reaction with water can yield two hydroxyl radicals, while collisional quenching returns the atom to its triplet ground term without the same radical production. Its short-lived steady balance is distinct from the lifetime of ozone or water.