Clarifying ozone emission spectra
DOI: 10.1063/1.3592016
In my article, “Infrared Radiation and Planetary Temperature” (PHYSICS TODAY, January 2011, page 33 ), figure 3a displays emission spectra from satellite-borne instruments viewing Earth. The text in the first full paragraph of page 37 that discusses the spike in the ozone feature inadvertently implies that the spike is of stratospheric origin, as is the case for the spike in the carbon dioxide (CO2) feature. In reality, the spike in the ozone feature arises because ozone has a minimum opacity at that point in the spectrum, and the radiation leading to that feature comes from the ground, not the stratosphere.
More about the Authors
Ray Pierrehumbert. University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois.
