Redetermination of the rate coefficient for the reaction of O(1D) with N2

Abstract

The rate coefficient for the reaction of O(1D) with N2 at 295 K has been measured in three laboratories to be 3.1 × 10−11 cm3 molecule−1 s−1, with an uncertainty of 10% at the 95% confidence level, and to be 2.1 × 10−11 exp {(115 ± 10) /T} cm3 molecule−1 s−1 as a function of temperature. (The quoted uncertainty in E/R will allow calculation of the uncertainty in the rate constant at various temperatures.) The implications of this finding are to decrease the calculated OH production rate via the reaction of O(1D) with H2O in the atmosphere by roughly 15% in the mid‐troposphere and above and to greatly reduce the uncertainties in the calculated HOx and NOx production rates in the atmosphere.