TOMSK, Aug 20 – RIA
Tomsk.
Scientists of Tomsk State University (TSU) with colleagues from France and the
USA received a grant from the Russian Science Foundation to study the
mechanisms of formation and decay of ozone; the results of the project will
help control the quality of the ozone layer, the press service of the
university said on Tuesday.
It is specified that the
problems of the formation, decay and evolution of ozone are priority for many
leading research centers. This, for example, is evidenced by the signing of the
Montreal Protocol on its global control and the Nobel Prizes for studies of the
ozone layer. At the same time, the scientific world has still not solved the
key issues related to the probabilities of the formation of ozone molecules and
isotopic anomalies.
"A team of physicists
from France, the USA and Russia (TSU) is investigating the mechanisms of
formation and decay of ozone (O₃), its characteristics and
properties at the molecular level when interacting with radiation. The results
will help to monitor the quality of the ozone layer, which is involved in the
formation of the atmosphere and climate of the Earth, affects air quality, protects
the planet from hard ultraviolet radiation", – is said in the report.
© flickr.com/ Kool Cats Photography
As noted by the scientific
project supervisor, chief scientific associate of the Laboratory for Quantum
Mechanics and Molecular Radiation Processes Vladimir Tyuterev, ozone has a number
of paradoxical properties: for example, the ozone layer at the top (in the
stratosphere) protects us and is climate-forming, but in the lower layers of
the atmosphere it is a part urban smog toxic to the human pulmonary system.
According to the scientist,
for effective monitoring of the content and evolution of ozone in the
atmosphere, constant remote sensing from satellites by spectral analysis
methods is necessary. With the help of such a study, it is possible to
determine the presence of ozone particles, their quantity, under what
conditions they exist, at what temperature, how they interact.
Within the framework of the
grant, physicists plan to measure the spectra of ozone, determine details of
its quantum structure in various energy states, explain the process of
formation of this molecule, and so on.
The acquisition and
processing of experimental spectra will be carried out in collaboration with
the laboratories of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).
Quantum calculations will be carried out on European supercomputers and on
Tomsk SKIF Cyberia.