EFFECT OF ATMOSPHERIC OVERLAPPING BANDS AND THEIR TREATMENT ON THE CALCULATION OF THERMAL RADIATION

The effect of the overlapping band of atmospheric gases and its treatment on the calculation of flux and cooling rate due to the long wave radiation is investigated in detail by a new transmission model for overlapping bands, taking the 15 μm band of CO2 as an example. It is found that the presence of band overlapping has a quite significant influence on radiative fluxes and cooling rates in the upper stratosphere and the troposphere, in particular, at the earth's surface. However, in the middle-lower stratosphere, the overlapping effect appears to be insignificant. It is also shown that the usual wide-band transmission model treating the overlapping effect overestimates the net longwave fluxes in the lower stratosphere and, in particular, in the troposphere including the surface. But, in the middle-upper stratosphere, the contrary is the case.