The Inhomogeneity Effect. III. Weather Impacts on the Heat Flow of Hot Jupiters
The interior flux of a giant planet impacts atmospheric motion, and the atmosphere dictates the interior’s cooling. Here we use a non-hydrostatic general circulation model (Simulating Non-hydrostatic Atmospheres on Planets) coupled with a multi-stream multi-scattering radiative module (High-performa...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acee7d |
| _version_ | 1827782855061667840 |
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| author | Xi Zhang Cheng Li Huazhi Ge Tianhao Le |
| author_facet | Xi Zhang Cheng Li Huazhi Ge Tianhao Le |
| author_sort | Xi Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The interior flux of a giant planet impacts atmospheric motion, and the atmosphere dictates the interior’s cooling. Here we use a non-hydrostatic general circulation model (Simulating Non-hydrostatic Atmospheres on Planets) coupled with a multi-stream multi-scattering radiative module (High-performance Atmospheric Radiation Package) to simulate the weather impacts on the heat flow of hot Jupiters. We found that the vertical heat flux is primarily transported by convection in the lower atmosphere and regulated by dynamics and radiation in the overlying radiation-circulation zone. The temperature inversion occurs on the dayside and reduces the upward radiative flux. The atmospheric dynamics relay the vertical heat transport until the radiation becomes efficient in the upper atmosphere. The cooling flux increases with atmospheric drag due to increased day–night contrast and spatial inhomogeneity. The temperature dependence of the infrared opacity greatly amplifies the opacity inhomogeneity. Although atmospheric circulation could transport heat downward in a narrow region above the radiative-convective boundary, the opacity inhomogeneity effect overcomes the dynamical effect and leads to a larger overall interior cooling than the local simulations with the same interior entropy and stellar flux. The enhancement depends critically on the equilibrium temperature, drag, and atmospheric opacity. In a strong-drag atmosphere hotter than 1600 K, a significant inhomogeneity effect in three-dimensional (3D) models can boost interior cooling several-fold compared to the 1D radiative-convective equilibrium models. This study confirms the analytical argument of the inhomogeneity effect in the companion papers by Zhang. It highlights the importance of using 3D atmospheric models in understanding the inflation mechanisms of hot Jupiters and giant planet evolution in general. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:38:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2bca527a7665495984be57f267bf182f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:38:57Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-2bca527a7665495984be57f267bf182f2023-10-26T12:15:21ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572023-01-0195712210.3847/1538-4357/acee7dThe Inhomogeneity Effect. III. Weather Impacts on the Heat Flow of Hot JupitersXi Zhang0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8706-6963Cheng Li1Huazhi Ge2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6719-0759Tianhao Le3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6600-8270Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA ; xiz@ucsc.eduDepartment of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USADepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA ; xiz@ucsc.eduDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA ; xiz@ucsc.eduThe interior flux of a giant planet impacts atmospheric motion, and the atmosphere dictates the interior’s cooling. Here we use a non-hydrostatic general circulation model (Simulating Non-hydrostatic Atmospheres on Planets) coupled with a multi-stream multi-scattering radiative module (High-performance Atmospheric Radiation Package) to simulate the weather impacts on the heat flow of hot Jupiters. We found that the vertical heat flux is primarily transported by convection in the lower atmosphere and regulated by dynamics and radiation in the overlying radiation-circulation zone. The temperature inversion occurs on the dayside and reduces the upward radiative flux. The atmospheric dynamics relay the vertical heat transport until the radiation becomes efficient in the upper atmosphere. The cooling flux increases with atmospheric drag due to increased day–night contrast and spatial inhomogeneity. The temperature dependence of the infrared opacity greatly amplifies the opacity inhomogeneity. Although atmospheric circulation could transport heat downward in a narrow region above the radiative-convective boundary, the opacity inhomogeneity effect overcomes the dynamical effect and leads to a larger overall interior cooling than the local simulations with the same interior entropy and stellar flux. The enhancement depends critically on the equilibrium temperature, drag, and atmospheric opacity. In a strong-drag atmosphere hotter than 1600 K, a significant inhomogeneity effect in three-dimensional (3D) models can boost interior cooling several-fold compared to the 1D radiative-convective equilibrium models. This study confirms the analytical argument of the inhomogeneity effect in the companion papers by Zhang. It highlights the importance of using 3D atmospheric models in understanding the inflation mechanisms of hot Jupiters and giant planet evolution in general.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acee7dPlanetary atmospheresExoplanet atmospheric dynamicsExoplanet evolutionExoplanet atmospheric structure |
| spellingShingle | Xi Zhang Cheng Li Huazhi Ge Tianhao Le The Inhomogeneity Effect. III. Weather Impacts on the Heat Flow of Hot Jupiters The Astrophysical Journal Planetary atmospheres Exoplanet atmospheric dynamics Exoplanet evolution Exoplanet atmospheric structure |
| title | The Inhomogeneity Effect. III. Weather Impacts on the Heat Flow of Hot Jupiters |
| title_full | The Inhomogeneity Effect. III. Weather Impacts on the Heat Flow of Hot Jupiters |
| title_fullStr | The Inhomogeneity Effect. III. Weather Impacts on the Heat Flow of Hot Jupiters |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Inhomogeneity Effect. III. Weather Impacts on the Heat Flow of Hot Jupiters |
| title_short | The Inhomogeneity Effect. III. Weather Impacts on the Heat Flow of Hot Jupiters |
| title_sort | inhomogeneity effect iii weather impacts on the heat flow of hot jupiters |
| topic | Planetary atmospheres Exoplanet atmospheric dynamics Exoplanet evolution Exoplanet atmospheric structure |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acee7d |
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