Dissociation, recombination and attachment processes in the upper atmosphere—I

Abstract

The study of the properties of the earth’s upper atmosphere has now progressed so far as to provide what should be a sufficient basis for the development of a detailed theory. Since the state of the upper atmosphere approximates closely to that of the gas in a low-pressure discharge tube (except for the absence of solid boundaries), it is clear that such a theory must deal with the individual collision processes which can occur in such a system. Until the last few years no satisfactory theory of these phenomena was available, but it is now possible to apply quantum mechanical methods with reasonable expectation of results accurate at least as regards order of magnitude. We therefore propose to make use of these methods to obtain a deeper understanding of the physics of the ionosphere. In this paper we confine ourselves particularly to the qualitative study of certain problems associated with the two upper ionized layers (the E and F regions), making use of information already available concerning the probabilities of the various collision reactions which are important. The detailed evaluation of these reaction rates is being carried out, and in later papers it is hoped to deal with the various problems in a more nearly quantitative manner. The two main strata of atmospheric ionization are the E region extending roughly from 120 to 160 km. and the F region from 180 to 300 km., at night. During the day each splits into two distinct strata forming the E 1 and E 2 and the F 1 and F 2 regions. The ionization density in each region, as determined from experiments with radio waves, exhibits characteristic annual and diurnal variations besides irregular variations of considerable magnitude. The first problem which arises is the reason for the existence of the stratification. This being understood it is then necessary to account for the observed variations of density, the daytime splitting of the layers, and so on.