An accurate radiative heating and cooling algorithm for use in a dynamical model of the middle atmosphere

The circulation of the middle atmosphere of the earth (15-90 km) is driven by the unequal distribution of net radiative heating. Calculations have shown that local radiative heating is nearly balanced by radiative cooling throughout parts of the stratosphere and mesosphere. The 15 micrometer band of CO2 is the dominant component of the infrared cooling. The present investigation is concerned with an algorithm regarding the involved cooling process. The algorithm was designed for the semispectral primitive equation model of the stratosphere and mesosphere described by Holton and Wehrbein (1980). The model consists of 16 layers, each nominally 5 km thick, between the base of the stratosphere at 100 mb (approximately 16 km) and the base of the thermosphere (approximately 96 km). The considered algorithm provides a convenient means of incorporating cooling due to CO2 into dynamical models of the middle atmosphere.