The contribution of reaction HO2+O→OH+O2 to OH nightglow

The photochemical model for the OH Meinel bands nightglow emission is discussed. Both the expression for the number densities of OH (nu <= 9) and the expression for the OH vibrational bands nightglow emission rates are derived from the photochemical model. The impact of chemical reaction, HO2 + O -> OH (nu <= 6) + O-2, on the number densities of OH(nu <= 6) and on the OH(nu'- nu '') (nu' <= 6) ( nu' represent the higher vibrational levels and nu '' represent the lower vibrational levels) vibrational bands emission are studied detailedly. The results indicate that the contribution of the reaction to the number densities increases with decreasing nu and the contribution to the OH(nu'-nu '') vibrational bands emission increases with decreasing nu'. The calculations for vernal equinox, local midnight at (0 degrees E, 45 degrees N) show that the reaction makes the peak density for level nu = 1 and the peak emission rate of the OH (1-0) vibrational band increase by about 33%, the peak density for level nu = 6 and the peak emission rates of the OH(6-nu '') vibrational bands increase by about 7%, the OH (1-0) band intensity increase by about 30%, and the OH (6-nu '') bands intensities increase by about 11 %. Furthermore, the reaction can make the widths of the altitude profiles for both the number densities and the vibrational bands emission rates increase, and the peak altitudes of these profiles lower by about 1km. The contribution of the reaction is sensitive to the atomic oxygen density and temperature. It increases with decreasing atomic oxygen density, and increases with increasing temperature almost linearly. And it is the strongest for summer solstice and the weakest for winter solstice.