Ozone, an important trace component, is critical to life on Earth and to atmospheric chemistry. The presence of ozone profoundly impacts the physical structure of the atmosphere and meteorology. Ozone is also an important photolytic source for HO radicals, the driving force for most of the chemistry that occurs in the lower atmosphere, is essential to shielding biota, and is the only molecule in the atmosphere that provides protection from UV radiation in the 250-300 nm region. However, recent concerns regarding environmental issues have inspired a need for a greater understanding of ozone, and the effects that it has on the Earth's atmosphere. The Mechanisms of Reactions Influencing Atmospheric Ozone provides an overview of the chemical processes associated with the formation and loss of ozone in the atmosphere, meeting the need for a greater body of knowledge regarding atmospheric chemistry. Renowned atmospheric researcher Jack Calvert and his coauthors discuss the various chemical and physical properties of the earth's atmosphere, the ways in which ozone is formed and destroyed, and the mechanisms of various ozone chemical reactions in the different spheres of the atmosphere. The volume is rich with valuable knowledge and useful descriptions, and will appeal to environmental scientists and engineers alike. A thorough analysis of the processes related to tropospheric ozone, The Mechanisms of Reactions Influencing Atmospheric Ozone is an essential resource for those hoping to combat the continuing and future environmental problems, particularly issues that require a deeper understanding of atmospheric chemistry.

An international team of eminent atmospheric scientists have prepared Mechanisms of Atmospheric Oxidation of the Alkanes as an authoritative source of information on the role of alkanes in the chemistry of the atmosphere. The book includes the properties of the alkanes and haloalkanes, as well as a comprehensive review and evaluation of the existing literature on the atmospheric chemistry of the alkanes and their major atmospheric oxidation products, and the various approaches now used to model the alkane atmospheric chemistry. Comprehensive coverage is given of both the unsubstituted alkanes and the many haloalkanes. All the existing quality measurements of the rate coefficients for the reactions of OH, Cl, O(3P), NO3, and O3 with the alkanes, the haloalkanes, and their major oxidation products have been reviewed and evaluated. The expert authors then give recommendations of the most reliable kinetic data. They also review the extensive literature on the mechanisms and rates and modes of photodecomposition of the haloalkanes and the products of atmospheric oxidation of the alkanes and the haloalkanes, and make recommendations for future use by atmospheric scientists. The evaluations presented allow an extrapolation of the existing kinetic and photochemical data to those alkanes and haloalkanes that are as yet unstudied.
The current book should be of special interest and value to the modelers of atmospheric chemistry as a useful input for development of realistic modules designed to simulate the atmospheric chemistry of the alkanes, their major oxidation products, and their influence on ozone and other trace gases within the troposphere.

A leading cause of polluted air in urban atmospheres is the interaction of sunlight with an air mixture containing nitrogen oxides and reactive hydrocarbons. Several classes of hydrocarbons are highly reactive hydrocarbons; one is the alkenes, the subject of "The Mechanisms of the Atmospheric Oxidation of the Alkenes" (Calvert, et al., OUP, 2000). This book, the second in a series of comprehensive studies of these compounds, will review and evaluate existing literature on the mechanisms of the aromatic hydrocarbons, which have a particularly high potential for ozone generation. The focus of the text will be on problem solving and clarifying uncertain aspects of the chemistry of these compounds.