Physics
Scientific paper
Jul 1991
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1991georl..18.1201m&link_type=abstract
Geophysical Research Letters (ISSN 0094-8276), vol. 18, July 1991, p. 1201-1204.
Physics
19
Energy Budgets, Energy Conversion Efficiency, Middle Atmosphere, Solar Heating, Solar Radiation, Ultraviolet Radiation, Mesosphere, Ozonosphere, Photochemical Reactions, Radiation Absorption, Spontaneous Emission, Thermosphere
Scientific paper
The efficiency at which solar ultraviolet radiation absorbed in the Hartley band of ozone is directly converted to heat in the terrestrial mesosphere and lower thermosphere (50-110 km) is calculated. The ozone molecule undergoes photolysis to yield the excited species O(1D) and O2(1Delta) with a quantum yield of about 0.9. Spontaneous emission from O2(1Delta) and from O2(1Sigma) (excited by energy transfer from O/1D/) significantly decreases the amount of energy available for heat. Similarly, the efficiency at which solar ultraviolet radiation absorbed by O2 in the Schumann-Runge continuum is directly converted to heat in the lower thermosphere (95-110 km) is calculated. The O2 undergoes photolysis and the excited product O(1D) is generated. Spontaneous emission from O2(1Sigma) (excited by energy transfer from O/1D/) reduces the amount of energy available for heat in the lower thermosphere. The consideration of these energy transfer and loss processes results in significantly reduced heating rates as compared to those conventionally calculated in models of the middle atmosphere.
Mlynczak Martin G.
Solomon Susan
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