AbstractsEarth & Environmental Science

The applicability of the Curtis-Godson Approximation to calculations of infrared heating due to the 9.6-micron band of ozone is investigated. Satisfactory results are obtained at the bottom and top of the ozone layer while, at intermediate heights, the Approximation is not so successful. An explanation of this pattern is obtained by a crude application of criteria suggested by Plass (1960). With routine calculations made feasible by the use of the Approximation, the affect on heating rates of the distribution of ozone and temperature is investigated. The former appears as the more critical of the two parameters. A chart constructed for the graphical determination of flux divergence or heating rate is presented.