COLLISIONAL EXCITATION OF NO BY H+, N+ AND O+ IONS

Despite the low atmospheric abundance of NO, it is one of the more important components, playing a vital role in many atmospheric processes. The excitation of NO by the atmospheric ions H+, N+ and O+ has been investigated using high resolution translational energy spectroscopy conducted at 3 keV. The first three vibrational levels of the y system, NO(X2-PI(r)) --> NO(A2-SIGMA+, nu' = 0-2) were clearly resolved. The main features of the spectra could not be unambiguously assigned as they comprised of several (11) overlapping processes, but two features N+(3P) + NO(X2-PI(r)) --> N+(5S) + NO(X2-PI(r)) and N+(3P) + NO(X2-PI(r)) --> N +(1D) + NO+(1-SIGMA+) + e- stood out. The use of the Wigner spin conservation rule greatly facilitated spectral interpretation by reducing the number of candidate reaction channels available.