Vibrational relaxation of O3(ν2) by O((3)P).

Laboratory measurements of the rate coefficient for quenching of O3(ν2) by ground-state atomic oxygen, kO(ν2), at room temperature are presented. kO(ν2) is currently not well known and is necessary for appropriate nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium modeling of the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere. In this work, a 266 nm laser pulse photolyzes a small amount of O3 in a slow-flowing gas mixture of O3, Xe, and Ar.