Nitric Oxide Production by Centimeter-Sized Meteoroids and the Role of Linear and Nonlinear Processes in the Shock Bound Flow Fields

作者：Silber Elizabeth A^*; Niculescu Mihai L; Butka Peter; Silber Reynold E

来源：Atmosphere, 2018, 9(5): 202.

DOI：10.3390/atmos9050202

• meteors
• shock waves
• nonlinear process
• nitric oxide
• mesosphere
• thermosphere
• meteoroids

Nitric oxide (NO) is a critical indicator of energy deposition in the lower thermosphere because of its formational pathways. Thus, it is important to constrain sources of NO, such as meteoroid generated hypersonic flows below 95 km altitude. This paper aims to examine the process of and place the upper estimate on NO production in high temperature flow fields of strongly ablating meteoroids. For centimeter-sized meteoroids, the production of NO is bound within the dynamically stable volume of bright meteor plasma trains in the region of 80-95 km. Our estimate of the upper limit of the cumulative mass of NO produced annually by centimeter-sized meteoroids is significantly lower than that reported in previous early studies. In the context of shock waves, we explored the reasons why centimeter-sized meteoroids are the most efficient producers of NO. Effects of nonlinear processes on meteoric NO production are discussed.

• 出版日期2018-5