How do I interpret a flux quoted in cm⁻² s⁻¹ in atmospheric chemistry?
The "strange" unit describes the photon flux, which is the number of photons (of unspecified wavelength) that hit an area (thus $\mathrm{cm^{-2}}$) in a time interval (thus $\mathrm{s^{-1}}$).


  It feels like it should be something like CCs of gas produced [&hellip;]


Not really. Not every photon leads to an excited state, not every excited state triggers a chemical reaction.