Characterizing the three-dimensional nature of exoplanets in the era of JWST

The study of exoplanets has moved from an era of detection to an era of atmospheric characterization, driven by the launch and commissioning of JWST as well as improvements in ground-based instrumental capabilities. This era of characterization will involve both deep studies of individual high signal-to-noise exoplanet atmospheres as well as shallow and broad studies of exoplanet atmospheric demographics. In this talk, I will describe how we can leverage both of these characterization methods to study exoplanet atmospheres. I will discuss the present understanding of the atmospheric circulation of hot and ultra-hot Jupiter exoplanets as derived from interpreting broad-wavelength and high-precision JWST and ground-based high spectral resolution observations of individual objects alongside existing population studies with Spitzer and Hubble. I will specifically describe the application of detailed 3D GCMs including the impact of clouds, thermochemistry, and interior evolution on the circulation and emergent properties of hot and ultra-hot Jupiters. Following this, I will briefly describe work modeling the climate dynamics of temperate rocky exoplanets in order to determine their potential for habitability as well as to predict to what extent habitable conditions could be discerned with current and future space-based observations. I will finish by providing an outlook on the near and long term characterization of exoplanet atmospheres, motivating further study of these objects with next-generation facilities.