Effective depth of spectral line formation in planetary atmospheres

The effective level of line formation for spectroscopic absorption lines has long been regarded as a useful parameter for determining average atmospheric values of the quantities involved in line formation. The identity of this parameter has recently been disputed. This paper reestablishes the dependence of this parameter on the average depth at which photons are absorbed in a semi-infinite atmosphere and shows that the mean depths derived by others are similar in nature and behavior.