Investigations of vibrational kinetics relaxation within air shock wave plasma

A vibrationally detailed kinetic model is used to study the relaxation behind shock waves in air. The role of recently published data for the rate coefficients of the Zeldovich reactions of NO formation is studied in detail. Results allow to study the radiation emitted from the shock-heated gas. Comparison with some emission spectroscopy study performed in a shock tube facility shows only qualitative agreement with the model predictions but it allows to identify directions for model improvement.