Abstract
The usual model of the chemistry of the lower ionosphere is inadequate to explain many observed phenomena. When this model is updated by the addition of associative detachment (O 2 − + O → O 3 + e) and collisional detachment by excited O 2( O 2 − + O 2( 1Δ g) → 2 O 2 + e) , the disagreement between theory and experiment becomes larger instead of smaller. In this paper we postulate the existence of a second (unidentified) negative ion, X −, formed symbolically by O 2 − + X → X − + O 2, with rate v x . The product v x [ X] is calculated as a function of altitude from daytime PCA data, and the two-ion model is then applied to twilight and nighttime PCA conditions and to nighttime nuclear burst conditions. Adequate agreement between theory and experiment is obtained for all conditions. The existence of a second negative ion, therefore, seems well supported by this study, but the identity of X − remains unknown.
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