Planetary Atmospheres Structure Composition Clouds Meteorology Photochemistry Atmospheric Escape EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:1
Structure Generalized Hydrostatic Equilibrium P( z) = P( 0)e z # ( ) " dr / H r 0 "( z) = "( 0)e z $ # dr / H * r 0 ( ) Io Generalized Pressure Scale Height H( z) = g p kt z ( ) ( z)µ a z ( Red Spot )m amu Generalized Density Scale Height H * 1 ( z) = 1 T z ( ) dt z ( ) dz + g p z ( )µ a z ( )m amu kt z ( ) EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:2
Structure Note: For an Isothermal Atmosphere (or region of an atmosphere): H( z) = H * ( z) Since dt z ( ) dz = 0 Remember that g p ( z) = GM p = GM p r 2 R p + z ( ) 2 * So at small altitudes r R P and g p (z) g p (R p ) EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:3
Structure Most planets have near surface scale heights ranging between ~10-25 km due to the similar ratios of T/(g p µ a ) Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune T surf (K) 737 288 215 165* 135* 76* 72* Bond Albedo 0.75 0.31 0.25 0.34 0.34 0.29 0.31 H (km) 16 8.5 11 24 47 25 23 Credit NASA * Temperature at 1 bar pressure EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:4
Structure Of course, temperature actually does vary with height If a packet of gas rises rapidly (adiabatic), then it will expand and, as a result, cool Work done in expanding = work done in cooling VdP = m gm " dp m gm is the mass of one mole, ρ is the density of the gas C pdt C p is the specific heat capacity of the gas at constant pressure Combining these two equations with hydrostatic equilibrium, we get the dry adiabatic lapse rate: dt dz = m gmg p = g p C p c p * On Earth, the lapse rate is about 10 K/km EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:5
Thermal Structure: Surface Incident energy What determines a planet s surface temperature? Reflected energy Absorbed energy warms surface Energy re-radiated from warm surface R Sun P in = (1 " A b )#R 2 F 2 r AU P out = 4"R 2 #$T 4 A b is Bond albedo, F is solar flux at Earth s distance, r is distance of planet to Sun, ε is emissivity, σ is Stefan s constant (5.67x10-8 Wm -2 K -4 ) Balancing energy in and energy out yields: % T eq = F 1/ 4 (1" A b ) ' 2 r AU 4#$ * & ) EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:6 (
Thermal Structure: Surface Solar constant F =1300 Wm -2 Earth (Bond) albedo A b =0.3, ε=0.9 Equilibrium temperature = 263 K How reasonable is this value? Body Mercury Venus Earth Mars A b 0.12 0.75 0.3 0.15 T eq 446 238 263 216 Actual T 100-725 733 288 222 How to explain the discrepancies? Has the Sun s energy stayed constant with time? EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:7
Thermal Structure: Greenhouse Effect Atmosphere is more or less transparent to radiation (photons) depending on wavelength opacity Opacity is low at visible wavelengths, high at infra-red wavelengths due to absorbers like water vapor, CO 2 Incoming light (visible) passes through atmosphere with little absorption Outgoing light is infra-red (since the surface temperature is lower) and is absorbed by atmosphere So atmosphere heats up Venus suffered from a runaway greenhouse effect surface temperature got so high that carbonates in the crust dissociated to CO 2... EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:8
Thermal Structure: Albedo Effects Fraction of energy reflected (not absorbed) by surface is given by the albedo A (0<A<1) Coal dust has a low albedo, ice a high one The albedo can have an important effect on surface temperature E.g. ice caps grow, albedo increases, more heat is reflected, surface temperature drops, ice caps grow further... runaway effect! This mechanism is thought to have led to the Proterozoic Snowball Earth How might clouds affect planetary albedo? EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:9
Atmospheric Thermal Structure The atmospheric temperature profile is governed by the efficiency of energy transport, which largely depends on optical depth, τ ν. Remember that heating by solar radiation is a top-down process. Optical depth (or transparency) is determined physical and chemical processes in the atmosphere and can change in time and in altitude. EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:10
Atmospheric Thermal Structure Other factors to consider: Clouds can change the albedo, the optical depth, and the local temperature (via release/absorption of latent heat). Surface variations/composition can effect albedo and surface temperatures depend on the thermal properties of materials and their chemical interactions with the atmosphere Geologic processes such as volcanism can greatly impact the composition, as well as chemistry and albedo (via dust grains and aerosals) of the atmosphere. EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:11
Atmospheric Thermal Structure Troposphere: Where condensable gasses form clouds. dt/dz < 0 Stratosphere: dt/dz > 0 Mesosphere: dt/dz < 0 Thermosphere: dt/dz > 0 Exosphere: Roughly Isothermal EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:12
Atmospheric Thermal Structure EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:13 Conduction Radiation Convection
Atmospheric Thermal Structure Lower atmosphere (opaque) is dominantly heated from below and will be conductive or convective (adiabatic) Upper atmosphere intercepts solar radiation and re-radiates it There will be a temperature minimum where radiative cooling is most efficient (the tropopause) Altitude radiation mesosphere stratosphere tropopause troposphere adiabat Temperature (schematic) clouds Temperature EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:14
Giant Planet Atmospheric Structure Altitude (km above 100 mbar height Note position and order/composition of cloud decks EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:15
Atmospheric Thermal Structure Radiation interactions are responsible for the structure we see: Troposphere absorbs IR photons from the surface temperature drops with altitude hot air rises and high gas density causes storms (convection) Stratosphere lies above the greenhouse gases (no IR absorption) absorbs heat via Solar UV photons which dissociate ozone (O 3 ) UV penetrates only top layer; hotter air is above colder air no convection or weather; the atmosphere is stratified Thermosphere absorbs heat via Solar X-rays which ionizes all gases contains ionosphere, which reflects back human radio signals Exosphere hottest layer; gas extremely rarified; provides noticeable drag on satellites EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:16
Terrestrial Planets Atmospheric Thermal Structure Mars, Venus, Earth all have warm tropospheres (and greenhouse gases) have warm thermospheres which absorb Solar X rays Only Earth has a warm stratosphere an UV-absorbing gas (O 3 ) All three planets have warmer surface temps due to greenhouse effect EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:17
Titan s s Atmospheric Thermal Profile Balance between greenhouse and anti-green house effects: Green house effects would cause +21 K increase in surface temperature over T eq Anti-green house from haze layer absorption of sunlight is responsible for -9 K difference So net ~12 K increase over T eq EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:18
Planetary Atmospheres Structure Composition Clouds Meteorology Photochemistry Atmospheric Escape EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:19
Spectra: Observing the Atmosphere Continuous Spectrum Absorption Spectrum Emission Spectrum Light emitted from a perfect black body generates a continuous spectrum. However, even as radiation emitted from the Sun passes through the cooler photosphere wavelengths of light are absorbed, resulting in absorption lines or a Fraunhofer absorption spectrum in solar radiation. EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:20
Spectra Hydrogen Helium Each element/molecule has its own spectral fingerprint that can be observed in either emission or absorption depending on its temperature relative to the light source. Cooler Then wavelengths will be absorbed and appear dark in the spectrum. EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:21
Spectra Just a reminder: These wavelengths of emission/absorption are uniquely and directly determined by the quantized energy transitions of electrons in a given atom/molecule. E ul = hν = hc / λ EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:22
Compositions of Terrestrial Atmospheres Earth Venus Mars Titan Pressure 1 bar 92 bar 0.006 bar 1.5 bar N 2 77% 3.5% 2.7% 98.4% O 2 21% - - - H 2 O 1% 0.01% 0.006% - Ar 0.93% 0.007% 1.6% 0.004% CO 2 0.035% 96% 95% ~1ppb CH 4 1.7ppm -? 1.6% 40 Ar 6.6x10 16 kg 1.4x10 16 kg 4.5x10 14 kg 3.5x10 14 kg H/D 3000 63 1100 3600 14 N/ 15 N 272 273 170 183 Isotopes are useful for inferring outgassing and atmos. loss EAS 4803/8803 - CP 11:23