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Science 7 May 1976:
Vol. 192. no. 4239, pp. 555 - 557
DOI: 10.1126/science.192.4239.555
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Articles

Eleven-Year Variation in Polar Ozone and Stratospheric-Ion Chemistry

M. A. RUDERMAN 1, H. M. FOLEY 1, and J. W. CHAMBERLAIN 2

1 Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York 10027
2 Department of Space Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77001

A mechanism for producing an 11-year oscillation in ozone over the polar caps is the modulation of galactic cosmic rays by the solar wind. This mechanism has been shown to give the observed phase in ozone oscillations and the correct qualitative dependence on latitude. However, the production of nitrogen atoms from cosmic-ray collisions seems inadequate to account for the ozone amplitude. Negative ions are also produced as a result of cosmic-ray ionization, and negative-ion chemistry may be of importance in the stratosphere. Specifically, NOx– may go through a catalytic cycle in much the same fashion as NOx, but with the important distinction that it does not depend on oxygen atoms to complete the cycle. Estimates of the relevant rates of reaction suggest that negative ions may be especially important over the winter polar cap.

Submitted on December 5, 1975


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Solar variability as a contributing factor to Holocene climatic change.
L. D. D. Harvey and L.D. Danny Harvey (1980)
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Ozone and Temperature Trends Associated with the 11-Year Solar Cycle.
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Science 204, 1303-1306
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Energetic Radiation Belt Electron Precipitation: A Natural Depletion Mechanism for Stratospheric Ozone.
R. M. THORNE (1977)
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Stratospheric Ion Chemistry and the 11-Year Variation in Polar Ozone.
F. C. FEHSENFELD, E. E. FERGUSON, G. E. STREIT, and D. L. ALBRITTON (1976)
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