Vertical tracer mixing in hot Jupiter atmospheres

Aerosols appear to be ubiquitous in close-in gas giant atmospheres, and disequilibrium chemistry likely impacts the emergent spectra of these planets. Lofted aerosols and disequilibrium chemistry are caused by vigorous vertical transport in these heavily irradiated atmospheres. Here we numerically a...

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主要な著者: Komacek, TD, Showman, AP, Parmentier, V
フォーマット: Journal article
言語:English
出版事項: American Astronomical Society 2019
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author Komacek, TD
Showman, AP
Parmentier, V
author_facet Komacek, TD
Showman, AP
Parmentier, V
author_sort Komacek, TD
collection OXFORD
description Aerosols appear to be ubiquitous in close-in gas giant atmospheres, and disequilibrium chemistry likely impacts the emergent spectra of these planets. Lofted aerosols and disequilibrium chemistry are caused by vigorous vertical transport in these heavily irradiated atmospheres. Here we numerically and analytically investigate how vertical transport should change over the parameter space of spin-synchronized gas giants. In order to understand how tracer transport depends on planetary parameters, we develop an analytic theory to predict vertical velocities and mixing rates (K zz) and compare the results to our numerical experiments. We find that both our theory and numerical simulations predict that if the vertical mixing rate is described by an eddy diffusivity, then this eddy diffusivity K zz should increase with increasing equilibrium temperature, decreasing frictional drag strength, and increasing chemical loss timescales. We find that the transition in our numerical simulations between circulation dominated by a superrotating jet and that with solely day-to-night flow causes a marked change in the vertical velocity structure and tracer distribution. The mixing ratio of passive tracers is greatest for intermediate drag strengths that correspond to this transition between a superrotating jet with columnar vertical velocity structure and day-to-night flow with upwelling on the dayside and downwelling on the nightside. Finally, we present analytic solutions for K zz as a function of planetary effective temperature, chemical loss timescales, and other parameters, for use as input to 1D chemistry models of spin-synchronized gas giant atmospheres.
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spelling oxford-uuid:f0342fad-fda7-4e4f-92ab-cf96bcad61ef2022-03-27T11:46:05ZVertical tracer mixing in hot Jupiter atmospheresJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:f0342fad-fda7-4e4f-92ab-cf96bcad61efEnglishSymplectic ElementsAmerican Astronomical Society2019Komacek, TDShowman, APParmentier, VAerosols appear to be ubiquitous in close-in gas giant atmospheres, and disequilibrium chemistry likely impacts the emergent spectra of these planets. Lofted aerosols and disequilibrium chemistry are caused by vigorous vertical transport in these heavily irradiated atmospheres. Here we numerically and analytically investigate how vertical transport should change over the parameter space of spin-synchronized gas giants. In order to understand how tracer transport depends on planetary parameters, we develop an analytic theory to predict vertical velocities and mixing rates (K zz) and compare the results to our numerical experiments. We find that both our theory and numerical simulations predict that if the vertical mixing rate is described by an eddy diffusivity, then this eddy diffusivity K zz should increase with increasing equilibrium temperature, decreasing frictional drag strength, and increasing chemical loss timescales. We find that the transition in our numerical simulations between circulation dominated by a superrotating jet and that with solely day-to-night flow causes a marked change in the vertical velocity structure and tracer distribution. The mixing ratio of passive tracers is greatest for intermediate drag strengths that correspond to this transition between a superrotating jet with columnar vertical velocity structure and day-to-night flow with upwelling on the dayside and downwelling on the nightside. Finally, we present analytic solutions for K zz as a function of planetary effective temperature, chemical loss timescales, and other parameters, for use as input to 1D chemistry models of spin-synchronized gas giant atmospheres.
spellingShingle Komacek, TD
Showman, AP
Parmentier, V
Vertical tracer mixing in hot Jupiter atmospheres
title Vertical tracer mixing in hot Jupiter atmospheres
title_full Vertical tracer mixing in hot Jupiter atmospheres
title_fullStr Vertical tracer mixing in hot Jupiter atmospheres
title_full_unstemmed Vertical tracer mixing in hot Jupiter atmospheres
title_short Vertical tracer mixing in hot Jupiter atmospheres
title_sort vertical tracer mixing in hot jupiter atmospheres
work_keys_str_mv AT komacektd verticaltracermixinginhotjupiteratmospheres
AT showmanap verticaltracermixinginhotjupiteratmospheres
AT parmentierv verticaltracermixinginhotjupiteratmospheres