Planetary Climate Dynamics

Abstract:

The growing number of observations of brown dwarfs (BDs) has provided evidence for strong atmospheric circulation on these objects. Directly imaged planets share similar observations and can be viewed as low-gravity versions of BDs. Vigorous condensate cycles of chemical species in their atmospheres are inferred by observations and theoretical studies, and latent heating associated with condensation is expected to be important in shaping atmospheric circulation and influencing cloud patchiness. We present a qualitative description of the mechanisms by which condensational latent heating influences circulation, and then illustrate them using an idealized general circulation model that includes a condensation cycle of silicates with latent heating and molecular weight effect due to the rainout of the condensate. Simulations with conditions appropriate for typical T dwarfs exhibit the development of localized storms and east–west jets. The storms are spatially inhomogeneous, evolving on a timescale of hours to days and extending vertically from the condensation level to the tropopause. The fractional area of the BD covered by active storms is small. Based on a simple analytic model, we quantitatively explain the area fraction of moist plumes and show its dependence on the radiative timescale and convective available potential energy (CAPE). We predict that if latent heating dominates cloud formation processes, the fractional coverage area of clouds decreases as the spectral type goes through the L/T transition from high to lower effective temperature. This is a natural consequence of the variation of the radiative timescale and CAPE with the spectral type.

Abstract:

The impact of the cloud convective layer of the atmosphere of Venus on the global circulation remains unclear. The recent observations of gravity waves at the top of the cloud by the Venus Express mission provided some answers. These waves are not resolved at the scale of global circulation models (GCM); therefore, we developed an unprecedented 3‐D turbulence‐resolving large‐eddy simulations (LES) Venusian model using the Weather Research and Forecast terrestrial model. The forcing consists of three different heating rates: two radiative ones for solar and infrared and one associated with the adiabatic cooling/warming of the global circulation. The rates are extracted from the Laboratoire de Météorlogie Dynamique Venus GCM using two different cloud models. Thus, we are able to characterize the convection and associated gravity waves in function of latitude and local time. To assess the impact of the global circulation on the convective layer, we used rates from a 1‐D radiative‐convective model. The resolved layer, taking place between 1.0 × 105 and 3.8 × 104 Pa (48–53 km), is organized as polygonal closed cells of about 10 km wide with vertical wind of several meters per second. The convection emits gravity waves both above and below the convective layer leading to temperature perturbations of several tenths of kelvin with vertical wavelength between 1 and 3 km and horizontal wavelength from 1 to 10 km. The thickness of the convective layer and the amplitudes of waves are consistent with observations, though slightly underestimated. The global dynamics heating greatly modify the convective layer.

Abstract:

Scatter plots of Ertel potential vorticity, Q, versus Bernoulli streamfunction, B, on potential temperature surfaces, θ, are investigated for Mars using the global Mars Analysis Correction Data Assimilation (MACDA) reanalysis, which spans Mars Year (MY) 24.39 to 27.24. In midlatitudes, Mars exhibits monotonic, function-like Q(B) correlations on θ surfaces similar to those observed for Earth. We quantify this with linear regressions of Q versus B over the vertical range θ=400 to 900 K (∼30 to 60 km). In autumn, winter and spring, in both hemispheres, the non-dimensionalized correlation generally lies between zero and unity and gradually decreases with height, whereas in northern summer, it swings negative. These characteristics match Earth's lower mesosphere (θ= 2000 to 3000 K; z≈ 48 to 62 km) during the same seasons. The exception is southern summer, when the correlation on Mars nearly vanishes. In time series, the transition into and out of northern summer is sinuous and centred just after solar longitude Ls = 90°, whereas in southern summer it is abrupt and spans ΔLs≈120°, which is one third of a Mars year. A striking feature seen on Mars but not on Earth is a large range of Q over the narrow domain of B poleward of each winter polar jet, particularly in the north, which is consistent with the known annular structure of the Martian polar vortex. Froude number calculations suggest the existence of a planetary-scale hydraulic jump associated with the winter polar jet.

Abstract:

The atmospheric circulation in Venus is well known to exhibit strong super-rotation. However, the atmospheric mechanisms responsible for the formation of this super-rotation are still not fully understood. In this work, we developed a new Venus general circulation model to study the most likely mechanisms driving the atmosphere to the current observed circulation. Our model includes a new radiative transfer, convection and suitably adapted boundary layer schemes and a dynamical core that takes into account the dependence of the heat capacity at constant pressure with temperature.The new Venus model is able to simulate a super-rotation phenomenon in the cloud region quantitatively similar to the one observed. The mechanisms maintaining the strong winds in the cloud region were found in the model results to be a combination of zonal mean circulation, thermal tides and transient waves. In this process, the semi-diurnal tide excited in the upper clouds has a key contribution in transporting axial angular momentum mainly from the upper atmosphere towards the cloud region. The magnitude of the super-rotation in the cloud region is sensitive to various radiative parameters such as the amount of solar radiative energy absorbed by the surface, which controls the static stability near the surface. In this work, we also discuss the main difficulties in representing the flow below the cloud base in Venus atmospheric models.Our new radiative scheme is more suitable for 3D Venus climate models than those used in previous work due to its easy adaptability to different atmospheric conditions. This flexibility of the model was crucial to explore the uncertainties in the lower atmospheric conditions and may also be used in the future to explore, for example, dynamical-radiative-microphysical feedbacks.