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Abstract:
Supersonic aircraft fly at altitudes between 16 and 22 km (10 and 14 miles). The quantity of molecules injected into that atmospheric layer depends on the characteristics of the engines and the length of their service. Volumetrically carbon dioxide is leading, yet the rate of its emission is negligible in comparison with other sources of pollution. Production of steam, estimated at 5. 2 kg/sec per engine, cannot be ignored, yet the direct effect of steam on the ozone is important above the stratosphere. Along similar lines of calculation it is estimated that emission of NO amounts to 43. 75 g/sec per engine and it is of the same order of magnitude as that produced in the stratosphere by natural reaction. Paper concludes that the problem requires further research that is being carried on by the Belgian Institute of Spatial Atmosphere.
