Molecular velocity distributions and generalized scale invariance in the turbulent atmosphere

Turbulence: Vertical Shear of the Horizontal Wind, Jet Streams, Symmetry Breaking, Scale Invariance and Gibbs Free Energy

The increase of the vertical scaling exponent of the horizontal wind Hv(s) with altitude from the surface of the Pacific Ocean to 13 km altitude, as observed by GPS dropsondes, is investigated. An explanation is offered in terms of the decrease of gravitational force and decrease of quenching efficiency of excited photofragments from ozone photodissociation with increasing altitude (decreasing pressure). Turbulent scaling is examined in both the vertical from dropsondes and horizontal from aircraft observations; the scaling exponents H for both wind speed and temperature in both coordinates are positively correlated with traditional measures of jet stream strength. Interpretation of the results indicates that persistence of molecular velocity after collision induces symmetry breaking emergence of hydrodynamic flow via the mechanism first modelled by Alder and Wainwright, enabled by the Gibbs free energy carried by the highest speed molecules. It is suggested that the combined effects have the potential to address the cold bias in numerical models of the global atmosphere.

Theory of the photodissociation of ozone in the Hartley continuum; effect of vibrational excitation and O(1D) atom velocity distribution

The effect of vibrational excitation on the photodissociation cross section of ozone in the Hartley continuum is examined. The calculations make use of newly computed potential energy and transition dipole moment surfaces. The initial vibrational states of the ozone are computed using grid based techniques and the first few ab initio computed vibrational energy level spacings agree to within 10 cm(-1) with experimental values. The computed total absorption cross sections arising from different initial vibrational states of ozone are discussed in the light of the nature of the transition dipole moment surface. The computed cross section for excitation from the ground vibrational-rotational state is in good agreement with the experimentally measured cross section. Excitation of the asymmetric stretching vibration of ozone has a marked effect on both the form and magnitude of the photodissociation cross section. The velocity distributions of highly reactive O(1D) atoms arising from the photodissociation process in different wavelength ranges is also presented. The results show that the O(1D) atoms travel with a most probable translational velocity of 2.030 km s(-1) corresponding to a translational energy of 0.342 eV or 33.0 kJ mol(-1).