Effect of Photochemical Models on Calculated Equilibria and Cooling Rates in the Stratosphere

Abstract

The determination of the relaxation time of a temperature perturbation in the stratosphere must take into account the effects of the absorption of solar energy by ozone, while the ozone density itself is dependent on temperature. A photochemical model, consisting of continuity equations for each of 29 constituents with reaction rates and adjustment times, is used to obtain the vertical distribution of ozone. The altitude range from 35 to 60 km in non-Arctic regions is shown to be in approximate joint radiative-photochemical equilibrium. The temperature and ozone distributions are thus well buffered. Modest changes in ozone and temperature were calculated on the basis of this model from large changes in cooling rates and reaction rates, and the results are shown to be more in line with actual observations. The importance of estimating the mixing ratios for NO and H2O is emphasized.