Das Projekt "Abiotische N2O-Bildungsprozesse in der Troposphaere: Photochemische In-Situ-Bildung von N2O in der Atmosphaere" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität-Gesamthochschule Essen, Fachbereich 8 Chemie, Institut für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie durchgeführt. Nitrous oxide is of global interest, because it is not only one of the dominant source gases of ozone-destroying odd nitrogen in the stratosphere, but it is also a greenhouse gas. However, the classical chemistry of N2O does not fully account for the total balance between the currently accepted sources, the observed trend and the stratospheric sinks. The reactions of electronically excited NO2 or NO3 with N2 are assumed to be an additional source of N2O in the atmosphere, since both radicals strongly absorb sun light in the visible spectral range. In the present work the formation of N2O in the reactive collisinal quenching of NO2 and NO3 by N2 will be investigated by use of the diode laser absorption technique.