Abstract

Non-LTE processes in ozone are significant components of the energy budget of the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere [Mlynczak, 1991]. The exothermic recombination reaction that forms ozone and the upwelling radiation (from the vicinity of the stratopause) absorbed by ozone have the potential to heat the mesopause region (80-105 km) at rates exceeding 6K/day if all potential (radiative plus chemical) energy would be converted to heat. Calculation of the heating rate requires a detailed knowledge of the processes by which ozone exchanges internal energy with its environment through chemical, collisional, and radiative processes. At present, the knowledge of the rate coefficients describing the non-LTE processes is probably not sufficient to permit reliable calculations of the heating associated with non-LTE processes in ozone. Shown in Fig. 1 are the heating rates (in K day^-l) calculated using two different models of non-LTE processes in ozone. The curve labeled "1" is the heating rate calculated using the model of Solomon et al. [1986] and the curve labeled "2" is the heating rate calculated using a model from Mlynczak and Dray son [1990a]. The two non-LTE models differ significantly in their parameterization of the non-LTE processes in ozone. In this paper, a technique whereby the heating rate may be inferred from appropriate measurements from satellite remote sensing instruments will be examined. This technique allows for the inference of the heating rate virtually independent of assumed kinetics models.

© 1991 Optical Society of America