Abstract
ROCKET and balloon-borne electrostatic probe measurements have shown that positive and negative ions are present in the stratosphere reaching number densities between 100 and 10,000 cm−3 (refs 1–5). The observed densities indicate that galactic cosmic radiation is the major ionisation source and mutual recombination is the dominant ion loss process. No experimental information exists, however, on the nature of stratospheric ions. Here we communicate the first mass spectrometric measurements of positive ions in the stratosphere.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
196,21 € per year
only 3,85 € per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Pedersen, A. FOA Report 607, (Research Institute of National Defense, Sweden, 1964).
Mitchel, J. D., Hale, L. C., Olsen, R. O., Randawa, J. S. & Rubio, R. Univ. Ill. Aeron. Rep. 48 (1972).
Rose, G., Widdel, H. U., Azcarraga, A. & Sanchez, J. Planet. Space Sci. 20, 871 (1972).
Bragin, Y. A., Tulinov, V. F., Smirnykh, L. N. & Yakovlev Kosm. issledovaniya isseldovaniya 11, 448–489 (1973).
Widdel, H. U., Rose, G. & Borchers, R. Pure appl. Geophys. 84, 154 (1971)
Stewart, R. W. & Hoffert, M. L. J. atmos. Sci. 32, 195–210 (1975).
Beauchamp, J. L. & Butrill, S. E. Jr, J. chem. Phys. 48, 1783 (1968).
Karpas, Z. & Klein, F. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. Ion Phys. 10, 289–306 (1975).
Smith, D., Adams, N. G. & Church, M. J. Planet. Space Sci. 24, 697–703 (1976).
Kebarle, P., Searles, S. K., Zolla, A., Scarborough, J. & Arshadi, M. J. Am. chem. Soc. 89, 6393 (1967).
D'Ans-Lax Taschenbuch fur Chemiker und Physiker (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1970).
CIRA 1972, COSPAR International Reference Atmosphere, (Akademie-Verlag Berlin, 1972).
Bohringer, H. & Arnold, F. Jahresbericht 1976 (Max-Planck-Institut fur Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany, in preparation).
Mahan, G. H. Adv. Chem. Phys. 23, (Wiley, New York, 1973).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
ARNOLD, F., KRANKOWSKY, D. & MARIEN, K. First mass spectrometric measurements of positive ions in the stratosphere. Nature 267, 30–32 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/267030a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/267030a0
