Abundance of Nitrous Oxide in Ground-Level Air*

Optical Properties of the Atmosphere (Revised)

“…883 x 10"3, (Figure 1), that is, the integral over the whole 3s1e range becomes I. One need only multiply the normalised distribution function eValley (1965), t Fink et al (1964), Birkland and Shaw (1959), 0 Shaw (1968), *3Shaw (1969). by the values of N in Table 3 in order to obtain the actual size distribution at any height in the atmosphere.…”

The nitrogen cycle: perturbations due to man and their impact on atmospheric N 2 O and O 3

“…Measurements of the spatial and temporal variability of N aO may be used to derive an empirical value for the lifetime of the gas under normal atmospheric conditions. If we adopt Junge's (1974) value for this parameter, about 10 years, and various estimates (Goody 1954(Goody , 1969Birkeland & Shaw 1959;Rank, Slomba, Gardner & Wiggins 1962;Craig & Gordon 1963;Schtitz et al 1970;Rasmussen 1975) for the unperturbed abundance, taken to correspond to a mixing ratio of about 2.6 x 10-7, we may conclude that the rate for global production of N aO should correspond to about 1.2 x 108 1 (nitrogen) per year. If we combine this result with values quoted earlier for fixation under natural conditions, about 1.6 x 108 t/a (tonnes per year), we may estimate a globally averaged yield factor for N aO equal to about 0.74.f…”

Air Pollution

“…Altshuller reviewed the natural sources of substances which, when found in population centers, are considered to be pollutants (10). Some determinations of the natural levels of nitrous oxide w'ere made by Birkeland and Shaw (45). Lodge reported some inferences from chloride-sulfate ratios found in the atmosphere and in precipitation the world over (211).…”