Abstract

This study estimated the vertical variation in mean temperatures within the tropospheric layer using the radiative equilibrium profile model and longwave radiation with Stefan-Boltzmann equation at a tropical meteorological station located besides Physics Building (7.55°N:4.56°E), Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. In the model, the height of the troposphere was assumed to be 16.0 x 10⁰ km and the standard effective mean temperature (255K) in the tropics was used in estimating the tropospheric mean temperatures for two layers: the ground surface (1.6 x 10^-3 km) and the top of the troposphere (16.0 x 10⁰ km). Arithmetic progression expression was then used to obtain the temperatures and longwave radiations for 16 equal sub-layers within the vertical height of the Earth’s troposphere. Our results showed that the estimated ground layer temperature (33.3°C) and longwave radiation (499.1 Wm^-2) for the meteorological station were comparable with the observed (31.9°C; 490.0 Wm^-2). Both the temperature and radiation were found to decrease with altitude within the tropospheric layers. The study concluded that the model performed reasonably in estimating the vertical profile of temperatures and longwave radiation over the study area.

Key words: Radiative equilibrium profile, temperature, longwave radiation, troposphere.