Exploring the Inner Edge of the Habitable Zone with Fully Coupled Oceans

The role of rotation in planetary atmospheres plays an important role in regulating atmospheric and oceanic heat flow, cloud formation and precipitation. Using the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) three dimension General Circulation Model (3D-GCM) we demonstrate how varying rotation rate and increasing the incident solar flux on a planet are related to each other and may allow the inner edge of the habitable zone to be much closer than many previous habitable zone studies have indicated. This is shown in particular for fully coupled ocean runs -- some of the first that have been utilized in this context. Results with a 100m mixed layer depth and our fully coupled ocean runs are compared with those of Yang et al. 2014, which demonstrates consistency across models. However, there are clear differences for rotations rates of 1-16x present earth day lengths between the mixed layer and fully couple ocean models, which points to the necessity of using fully coupled oceans whenever possible. The latter was recently demonstrated quite clearly by Hu & Yang 2014 in their aquaworld study with a fully coupled ocean when compared with similar mixed layer ocean studies and by Cullum et al. 2014. Atmospheric constituent amounts were also varied alongside adjustments to cloud parameterizations (results not shown here). While the latter have an effect on what a planet's global mean temperature is once the oceans reach equilibrium they do not qualitatively change the overall relationship between the globally averaged surface temperature and incident solar flux for rotation rates ranging from 1 to 256 times the present Earth day length. At the same time this study demonstrates that given the lack of knowledge about the atmospheric constituents and clouds on exoplanets there is still a large uncertainty as to where a planet will sit in a given star's habitable zone

Saturn Atmospheric Structure and Dynamics

2 Saturn inhabits a dynamical regime of rapidly rotating, internally heated atmospheres similar to Jupiter. Zonal winds have remained fairly steady since the time of Voyager except in the equatorial zone and slightly stronger winds occur at deeper levels. Eddies supply energy to the jets at a rate somewhat less than on Jupiter and mix potential vorticity near westward jets. Convective clouds exist preferentially in cyclonic shear regions as on Jupiter but also near jets, including major outbreaks near 35°S associated with Saturn electrostatic discharges, and in sporadic giant equatorial storms perhaps generated from frequent events at depth. The implied meridional circulation at and below the visible cloud tops consists of upwelling (downwelling) at cyclonic (anti-cyclonic) shear latitudes. Thermal winds decay upward above the clouds, implying a reversal of the circulation there. Warm-core vortices with associated cyclonic circulations exist at both poles, including surrounding thick high clouds at the south pole. Disequilibrium gas concentrations in the tropical upper troposphere imply rising motion there. The radiative-convective boundary and tropopause occur at higher pressure in the southern (summer) hemisphere due to greater penetration of solar heating there. A temperature “knee ” of warm air below the tropopause, perhaps due to haze heating, is stronger in the summer hemisphere as well. Saturn’s south polar stratosphere is warmer than predicted by radiative models and enhanced in ethane, suggesting subsidence-driven adiabatic warming there. Recent modeling advances suggest that shallow weather laye

The Need for Laboratory Measurements and Ab Initio Studies to Aid Understanding of Exoplanetary Atmospheres

Laboratory astrophysics and astrochemistr

Observations and simulations of climate forcings and feedbacks. Final report

The research conducted under this agreement sought to use available satellite data sets to document a variety of climate feedback processes by understanding the mechanisms of current climate variability (seasonal, interannual, temperature dependence). Comparisons with feedback processes operating in the GCM were performed to determine which aspects of the variability serve as the most reliable proxies for decadal climate change. This report focuses on three general areas of progress: upper troposphere water vapor, low cloud optical thickness, and tropical cumulus anvil clouds

Models of Venus atmosphere

In the context of an International Space Science Institute(ISSI) working group, we have conducted a project to compare the most recent General Circulation Models (GCMs) of the Venus atmospheric circulation. A common configuration has been decided, with simple physical parametrization for the solar forcing and the boundary layer scheme. Six models have been used in this intercomparison project. The nominal simulation was run for more than 200 Venus days, and additional sensitivity runs have been done by several models to test the trends visible in these models when parameters are varied: topography, upper and lower boundary conditions, horizontal and vertical resolution, initial conditions. The results show that even in very similar modelling conditions, the wind speeds obtained with the different GCMs are widely different. Superrotation is obtained, but the shape (with or without marked high-latitude jets) and amplitude of the maximum zonal wind jet is different from one model to the other, from 15 to 50 m/s. Minor sensitivity is seen in several models to the upper boundary conditions, the topography or the vertical grid. Horizontal resolution and lower boundary conditions induce variations that are significant, affecting the amplitude and shape of the region of maximum zonal wind. Two models were started from an atmosphere already in superrotation. The simulations did not converge back to the nominal simulations, maintaining maximum zonal winds over 70 m/s (and even 100 m/s) without marked high-latitude jets. This study shows how sensitive GCMs are to the weak forcing of Venus atmosphere, and how difficult it is to draw precise conclusions on the circulation obtained with a single model, as well as on its sensitivity to some parameters

Analyzing signatures of aerosol-cloud interactions from satellite retrievals and the GISS GCM to constrain the aerosol indirect effect

Evidence of aerosol-cloud interactions are evaluated using satellite data from MODIS, CERES, AMSR-E, reanalysis data from NCEP and data from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies climate model. We evaluate a series of model simulations: (1) Exp N- aerosol direct radiative effects; (2) Exp C- Like Exp N but with aerosol effects on liquid-phase cumulus and stratus clouds; (3) Exp CN- Like Exp C but with model wind fields nudged to reanalysis data. Comparison between satellite-retrieved data and model simulations for June to August 2002, over the Atlantic Ocean indicate the following: a negative correlation between aerosol optical thickness (AOT) and cloud droplet effective radius (R{sub eff}) for all cases and satellite data, except for Exp N; a weak but negative correlation between liquid water path (LWP) and AOT for MODIS and CERES; and a robust increase in cloud cover with AOT for both MODIS and CERES. In all simulations, there is a positive correlation between AOT and both cloud cover and LWP (except in the case of LWP-AOT for Exp CN). The largest slopes are obtained for Exp N, implying that meteorological variability may be an important factor. The main fields associated with AOT variability in NCEP/MODIS data are warmer temperatures and increased subsidence for less clean cases, not well captured by the model. Simulated cloud fields compared with an enhanced data product from MODIS and AMSR-E indicate that model cloud thickness is over-predicted and cloud droplet number is within retrieval uncertainties. Since LWP fields are comparable this implies an under-prediction of R{sub eff} and thus an over-prediction of the indirect effect

Analysis of cloud-resolving simulations of a tropical mesoscale convective system observed during TWP-ICE: Vertical fluxes and draft properties in convective and stratiform regions

International audienceWe analyze three cloud-resolving model simulations of a strong convective event observed during the TWP-ICE campaign, differing in dynamical core, microphysical scheme or both. Based on simulated and observed radar reflectivity, simulations roughly reproduce observed convective and stratiform precipitating areas. To identify the characteristics of convective and stratiform drafts that are difficult to observe but relevant to climate model parameterization, independent vertical wind speed thresholds are calculated to capture 90% of total convective and stratiform updraft and downdraft mass fluxes. Convective updrafts are fairly consistent across simulations (likely owing to fixed large-scale forcings and surface conditions), except that hydrometeor loadings differ substantially. Convective downdraft and stratiform updraft and downdraft mass fluxes vary notably below the melting level, but share similar vertically uniform draft velocities despite differing hydrometeor loadings. All identified convective and stratiform downdrafts contain precipitation below ~10 km and nearly all updrafts are cloudy above the melting level. Cold pool properties diverge substantially in a manner that is consistent with convective downdraft mass flux differences below the melting level. Despite differences in hydrometeor loadings and cold pool properties, convective updraft and downdraft mass fluxes are linearly correlated with convective area, the ratio of ice in downdrafts to that in updrafts is ~0.5 independent of species, and the ratio of downdraft to updraft mass flux is ~0.5-0.6, which may represent a minimum evaporation efficiency under moist conditions. Hydrometeor loading in stratiform regions is found to be a fraction of hydrometeor loading in convective regions that ranges from ~10% (graupel) to ~90% (cloud ice). These findings may lead to improved convection parameterizations. © 2012. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved

Modeling efforts

In this section we survey the historical development of Venus models and the range of models now available, before discussing some of their remaining limitations. We also consider some approaches which have been taken to model Saturn's moon Titan, also a slowly-rotating body with an optically thick, dense atmosphere which super-rotates compared to Titan's surface