Parameterization of the Non-Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium Source Function with Chemical Production by an Equivalent Two-Level Model

The classic two-level or equivalent two-level model that includes only the statistical equilibrium of radiative and thermal processes of excitation and quenching between two vibrational energy levels is extended by adding chemical production to the rate equations. The modifications to the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium source function and cooling rate are parameterized by ϕc, which characterizes the ratio of chemical production to collisional quenching. For applications of broadband emission of O3 at 9.6 μm, the non-LTE effect of chemical production on the cooling rate and limb emission is proportional to the ratio of O to O3. For a typical [O]/[O3], the maximum enhancements of limb radiance and cooling rate are about 15%–30% and 0.03–0.05 K day−1, respectively, both occurring near the mesopause regions. This suggests that the broadband limb radiance above ∼80 km is sensitive to O3 density but not sensitive to the direct cooling rate along the line-of-sight, which makes O3 retrieval feasible but the direct cooling rate retrieval difficult by using the O3 9.6 μm band limb emission.