Abstract
Photochemical processes involving atomic carbon in the upper atmospheres of Mars and Venus are critically examined. It is shown that carbon is produced mainly by electron- and photon-induced dissociation of CO and CO2, with CO relatively more important for Mars. The important removal mechanism for C is a reaction with O2, although a spin-forbidden reaction with CO2 may also be significant. Detailed calculations are presented for the dayglow emissions from C at 1657 and 1561 A and results are compared with the Mariner 6 and 7 results for Mars. It is indicated that high-quality observations of the C lines can be used to infer valuable information on the abundance of O2.
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