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Ozone, TroposphericIn the early part of the 20th century, ground-based and balloon-borne measurements discovered that most of atmosphere's ozone is located in the stratosphere with highest concentrations located between 15 and 30 km (9,3 and 18.6 miles). For a long time, it was believed that tropospheric ozone originated from the stratosphere and that most of it was destroyed by contact with the earth's surface. Ozone, O3, was known to be produced by the photo-dissociation of molecular oxygen, O2, a process that can only occur at wavelengths shorter than 242 nm. Because such short-wave-length radiation is present only in the stratosphere, no tropospheric ozone production is possible by this mechanism. In the 1940s, however, it became obvious that production of ozone was also taking place in the troposphere. The overall reaction mechanism was eventually identified by Arie Haagen-Smit of the California Institute of Technology, in highly polluted southern California. The copious emissions from the numerous cars driven there as a result of the mass migration to Los Angeles after World War 2 created the new unpleasant phenomenon of photochemical smog, the primary component of which is ozone. These high levels of ozone were injuring vegetable crops, causing women's nylons to run, and generating increasing respiratory and eye-irritation problems for the populace. Our knowledge of tropospheric ozone increased dramatically in the early 1950s as monitoring stations and search centers were established throughout southern California to see what could be done to combat this threat to human health and the environment.
Document ID
19970023065
Acquisition Source
Langley Research Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Fishman, Jack (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA United States)
Date Acquired
September 6, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1995
Publication Information
Publication: Encyclopedia of Energy Technology and the Environment
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Subject Category
Environment Pollution
Report/Patent Number
NAS 1.15:112390
NASA-TM-112390
Accession Number
97N23469
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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