ciated with average suburban developments. This waste heat release is about 10 percent of the average natural energy conversion at the surface. The possible changes in aerodynamic roughness and rectenna’s albedo would probably be more important than the waste heat release due to power conversion. The intensity of the atmospheric perturbation due to SPS rectenna operation should be very small compared with those of other man-made installations. Microwave heating of the lower atmosphere through gaseous absorption is negligible. Under most situations the heating by microwave will have no significant influence on the dynamics and thermodynamics of- the clouds and associated hydrometeors. * Scattering by the particles, even in heavily polluted atmosphere, is also negligible. *Cloud water droplets, raindrops, hail, ice crystals, etc. **Workshop report in preparation. A workshop on the atmospheric effects of rectenna operation was recently held (August 23-28, 1978) in C*h*icago. Some of the panel’s findings are highlighted in Appendix 3A. 3.4.3 Stratosphere, Nonmicrowave Effects In recent years, considerable effort has been expended in a wide variety of research programs designed to advance the state of knowledge with respect to perturbation in the chemical composition of the stratosphere, particularly in connection with possible changes in stratospheric ozone concentrations. A wide variety of natural as well as human sources of chemical perturbation has been considered, including volcanic emissions, solar flares, subsonic and supersonic aircraft, chlorofluoromethane emissions, nuclear weapons testing, and biological production of nitrous oxide (N2O). Each type of perturbation is characterized by the chemical nature of the emissions and by the given distribution of sources. Estimates of their impact on the stratospheric composition are based upon these particular characteristics. For this reason, the impacts on the stratosphere and mesophere due to the rocket exhaust emissions associated with the construction and operation of large space satellites cannot be estimated directly by simple extrapolation from previous assessments. The situation with regard to SPS-related rocket exhaust emissions differs in two significant respects from all other perturbations considered to date. First, the emissions will consist primarily of
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