A simple parameterization for the height of maximum ozone heating rate

Abstract

It is well-known that the height of the maximum ozone heating rate is much higher than the height of the maximum ozone concentration in the stratosphere. However, it lacks an analytical expression to explain it. A simple theoretical model has been proposed to calculate the height of maximum ozone heating rate and further understand this phenomenon. Strong absorption of ozone causes the incoming solar flux to be largely attenuated before reaching the location of the maximum ozone concentration. By comparing with the exact radiative transfer calculations, the heights of the maximum ozone heating rate produced by the theoretical model are generally very close to the true values. When the cosine of solar zenith angle μ0=1.0, in US Standard atmosphere, the heights of the maximum ozone heating rate by the theoretical model are 41.4km in the band 0.204–0.233μm, 47.9km in the band 0.233–0.270μm, 44.5km in the band 0.270–0.286μm, 37.1km in the band 0.286–0.303μm, and 30.2km in the band 0.303–0.323μm, respectively. The location of the maximum ozone heating rate is sensitive to the solar spectral range. In band 1, the heights of the maximum ozone heating rate by the theoretical model are 52.3km for μ0=0.1, 47.1km for μ0=0.3, 44.6km for μ0=0.5, 43.1km for μ0=0.7, 41.9km for μ0=0.9, 41.4km for μ0=1.0 in US Standard atmosphere, respectively. This model also illustrates that the location of the maximum ozone heating rate is sensitive to the solar zenith angle.