Photolysis of Ox, HOx, COx, and SOx Compounds

Abstract

This paper gives a review of the homogenous gas phase photolysis of inorganic oxide compounds of aeronomic interest. The review is concerned with results of laboratory investigations at wavelengths from the visible to the Schumann vacuum ultraviolet at about 1050 Å corresponding to the lithium fluoride transmission limit. The discussion is confined largely to the photolytic primary processes which are mostly photodissociation in the systems of interest. As kinetic processes are covered by other papers, secondary reactions of photolysis products are discussed here only in the context of the primary processes. The objective is to provide an overview of, and to critically assess, the state of knowledge as to the observations of dissociation processes and products, measurements of quantum yields, and studies of fragment energy distributions.