Influence of CO2 line profiles on radiative and radiative-convective equilibrium states of the Venus lower atmosphere

Influence of CO2 line profiles on vertical temperature distributions in the radiative and radiative-convective equilibria is examined in the Venus atmosphere. The CO2 opacity obtained by the Voigt (Lorentz) profile without the line cutoff is shown to be excessive since this opacity gives surface temperatures of about 860-1020 K in the radiative-convective equilibrium. On the other hand, the opacity obtained by the extremely sub-Lorentzian profiles of Pollack et al. (1993) and Tonkov et al. (1996) are underestimated; the surface temperature obtained with this opacity remains 600 K even in the radiative equilibrium. In this case, convection does not take place below the cloud layer because of the cloud opacity. It is also shown that Fukabori et al.' s (1986) and Meadows and Crisp's (1996) profiles, both of which have intermediate absorption coefficients, give temperature distributions close to the observed one in the radiative-convective equilibrium. In these cases, the convection layer extends from the surface to 30-50 km altitudes. Then, the temperature distribution below the cloud layer is determined by a dry adiabatic lapse rate and the temperature near the cloud bottom. The surface temperature in the radiative-convective equilibrium is strongly affected by the temperature near the cloud bottom in this situation. The detailed structure of the H2SO4 cloud must be taken into account to construct a realistic radiative transfer model.