Abstract
A RECENT NASA report1 discussed the relative amounts of nitric acid and nitrogen dioxide present in the stratosphere, and pointed out that the values of the ratio [HNO3]/[NO2] measured by Evans et al.2 are, in fact, considerably lower than the values predicted theoretically using the latest values for rate constants and photodissociation coefficients for the appropriate reactions. This letter reports independent determinations of the [HNO3]/[NO2] ratio which apparently support the measured values2 at levels above 25 km, but which are nearer the calculated values below this level.
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References
Chlorofluoromethanes and the Stratosphere 160–161 (NASA Ref. Publ. 1010, 1977).
Evans, W. J. F. et al. Atmosphere 14, 189 (1976).
Harries, J. E., Moss, D. G., Swann, N. R. W., Neill, G. F. & Gildwarg, P. Nature 259, 300 (1976).
Rep. Committee on the Meteorological Effects of Stratospheric Aircraft (COMESA) (UK Meteorological Office, Bracknell, 1975).
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HARRIES, J. Ratio of HNO3 to NO2 concentrations in daytime stratosphere. Nature 274, 235 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1038/274235a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/274235a0
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