SODIUM AND OTHER MINOR CONSTITUENTS OF METEORIC ORIGIN IN THE ATMOSPHERE

The photochemistry of sodium species is examined. It is shown that the dominant species below the well known sodium layer is NaOH which is abundant enough in the middle stratosphere to explain the existence of NaOH‐cluster positive ions as proposed by Ferguson (1978). A range of total flux of meteoric species entering the stratosphere of 5 × 105 to 5 × 106 cm−2s−1 can be deduced from our model calculations. The implication of metals in these meteors on the formation of stratospheric aerosols is discussed. Copyright 1979 by the American Geophysical Union.