No abstract

Of particular importance to nitrogen atoms is the nitric oxide ion (NO +) known to be the most abundant ion species in the E region (Furuya et al., 2017). Also, NO + has the lowest heat of formation of the major thermospheric ions and can give rise to neutral products only by dissociative recombination but it is produced by reactions involving all other ions (Duff & Smith, 2000; Oppenheimer et al., 1977). It is also found that NO + is the dominant ion in O + depleted regions (Szuszczewicz, 1978) and gradually increases above 100 km altitude (C. Smith et al., 1967). Moreover, chemical reactions involving NO + can explain

No abstract