We provide an example of an analysis to explore the optimization of
observations of transiting hot jupiters with JWST to characterize their
atmospheres, based on a simple three-parameter forward model. We construct
expansive forward model sets for eleven hot jupiters, ten of which are
relatively well-characterized, exploring a range of parameters such as
equilibrium temperature and metallicity, as well as considering host stars over
a wide range in brightness. We compute posterior distributions of our model
parameters for each planet with all of the available JWST spectroscopic modes
and several programs of combined observations and compute their effectiveness
using the metric of estimated mutual information per degree of freedom. From
these simulations, clear trends emerge that provide guidelines for designing a
JWST observing program. We demonstrate that these guidelines apply over a wide
range of planet parameters and target brightnesses for our simple forward
model.Comment: Accepted to ApJ, 25 pages, 14 figures, 8 table
