Radiative and Photochemical Processes in Mesospheric Dynamics: Part I, Models for Radiative and Photochemical Processes

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Abstract
The equations for the photochemistry of ozone and radiative heating in the mesosphere are, for certain regions, reduced from differential-integral equations to much simpler differential-algebraic equations which are more readily incorporated into hydrodynamic models. The simplified equations are first solved for joint radiative-photochemical equilibrium; the distributions obtained are in fair agreement with the more detailed calculations of Leovy (1964). The equations for temperature and ozone, with advection included, are linearized in terms of perturbations on the equilibrium fields, and a brief discussion of the effect of photo-chemistry, radiative transfer and their interaction on the thermal response to a field of motion is presented. Finally, the problem of the joint photochemical-radiative relaxation of perturbations in the absence of motion is investigated. It is found that the coupling sharply accelerates thermal relaxation above 35 km, and appreciably accelerates photochemical relaxation and decelerates thermal relaxation in a region in the neighbor- hood of 26 km. The coupling also leads to oscillating relaxation in the neighborhood of 30 km.

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