Contemporary solar and infrared radiative codes have been used with satellite derived distributions of ozone, water vapor, and temperature to calculate the stratospheric solar, infrared, and net radiative heating on a monthly basis. Heating/cooling rates have been calculated from pole to pole and from 13 to 61 km for each of 12 months. Vertical resolution is 1.5 km. Results are interpolated to surfaces of constant potential temperature, and divergence-free, zonally averaged, advective fields are diagnosed using the calculated diabatic heating (net radiative heating). Associated stream functions are also derived. Based upon these advective fields, trajectory studies have been carried out in the meridional plane and used to elucidate further the stratospheric transport of inert tracers. Analysis of the presently diagnosed advective fields suggests the following: (1) Entry into the mid to upper stratosphere of tropospheric air is principally from a latitude region of ¿10¿ at the equatorial tropopause. Smaller contributions to the stratosphere come from the polar mesosphere. (2) At latitudes poleward of ¿15¿, tracers transported from the troposphere into the stratosphere are subsequently transported toward the pole (with little ascending motion) and then downward and out of the stratosphere at the higher latitudes. (3) The nearly continuous presence of cells of net cooling in the lower stratospheric polar regions are important in establishing these regions as continuous vents for polar stratospheric air. (4) Based upon these advective fields, residence times for stratospheric air with given entry points are as follows: for equatorial entry, 3--4 years; for entry from the polar mesosphere, 1--1.5 years; and for entry from the troposphere at extratropical latitudes, ≈1 year. Using heating and advection fields derived from Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere (LIMS) data, an approximate measure of the interannual variability of the diabatic circulation is obtained. Ramifications of these findings are discussed. The heating rates, the derived advective fields, and the data base used in their calculation are available from the authors upon request. ¿American Geophysical Union 1987