event
Wednesday 21 Nov 2018: How does the strength of the gravitational acceleration impact a planet's atmospheric circulation?
Dr. Stephen Thomson - University of Exeter
Harrison 170 14:00-16:00
In this talk I will discuss our recent work looking at how the the strength of the gravitational acceleration impacts the atmospheric circulation of an Earth-like planet. The problem is first studied using the atmospheric primitive equations alone. We then investigate additional effects using a numerical General Circulation Model, adding complexity to the model incrementally to isolate important effects. We show how the presence of a condensible species in the atmosphere has the most significant impact on how the circulation responds to different values of the gravitational acceleration. If time permits, I will also briefly discuss our related work on the impact of atmospheric water vapour on the circulation of giant planets.