Reactive-diffusion waves in the mesospheric photochemical system Original Research Article

The influence of horizontal eddy diffusion on photochemical oscillations of minor gas constituents in the mesopause region of the Earth’s atmosphere is investigated. It is shown that, when the spectrum of oscillations contains a pronounced second subharmonic (nonlinear response of the photochemical system to diurnal variations of solar radiation), reaction-diffusion waves in the form of travelling fronts and pulses of the phase of two-day oscillations may be excited in this region of the atmosphere.