  The coupling between time-dependent, multidimensional MHD numerical codes and
radiative line emission is of utmost importance in the studies of the interplay
between dynamical and radiative processes in many astrophysical environments,
with particular interest for problems involving radiative shocks. There is a
widespread consensus that line emitting knots observed in Herbig-Haro jets can
be interpreted as radiative shocks. In this paper we address two different
aspects relevant to the time-dependent calculations of the line intensity
ratios of forbidden transitions, resulting from the excitation by planar,
time-dependent radiative shocks traveling in a stratified medium. The first one
concerns the impact of the radiation and ionization processes included in the
cooling model, and the second one the effects of the numerical grid resolution.
In this paper we apply the AMR methodology to the treatment of radiating shocks
and show how this method is able to vastly reduce the integration time. The
technique is applied to the knots of the HH 30 jet to obtain the observed line
intensity ratios and derive the physical parameters, such as density,
temperature and ionization fraction. We consider the impact of two different
cooling functions and different grid resolutions on the results. We conclude
that the use of different cooling routines has effects on results whose weight
depends upon the line ratio considered. Moreover, we find the minimum numerical
resolution of the simulation grid behind the shock to achieve convergence in
the results. This is crucial for the forthcoming 2D calculations of radiative
shocks.
