COMPUTATIONAL STUDIES ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY .19. A COMPUTATIONAL EVALUATION OF THE OZONE DIMER ALTITUDE PROFILE

The mole fraction x2 of the ozone dimer in its equilibrium mixture wit h the monomer is evaluated on a base of recent ab initio correlated qu antum-chemical computations. The dimerization equilibrium constant is evaluated in terms of partition functions. The pressure and temperatur e profiles are taken from observations in Antarctic conditions. The re sulting x2 altitude profiles exhibit dependencies with maxima and mini ma. The seasonal dependency follows that known for the ozone partial p ressure. Depending on the computational treatment applied, the highest x2 values found are of the order of 10(-8)% or 10(-10)%.