Photodissociation of nitric oxide in the mesosphere and stratosphere: Simplified numerical relations for atmospheric model calculations

A numerical method is presented for modeling the photodissociation of nitric oxide in the mesosphere and the relevant part of the stratosphere. By using the following simple formula it is possible to obtain sufficiently realistic photodissociation rates which are in reasonable agreement with detailed calculations. In the stratospherethe effects of ozone absorption and of molecular nitrogen de-excitation must be introduced.