event
Tuesday 08 Dec 2020: Simulations of convection over a range of atmospheric conditions on TRAPPIST-1e
Dr Denis Sergeev - University of Exeter
Zoom 13:30-14:30
Convection is an important driver of energy redistribution in planetary atmospheres. By forming clouds and interacting with boundary-layer processes, moist convection is a key part of complex feedback mechanisms in the climate system. The climate of tidally locked rocky exoplanets (planets orbiting stars other than the Sun) and its sensitivity to moist convection is analysed using a 3D general circulation model, the Met Office Unified Model. Planetary and orbital parameters are chosen to represent TRAPPIST-1e, a recently detected terrestrial exoplanet and a potential candidate for future atmospheric characterization with JWST. The TRAPPIST-1e case serves as an interesting case for 3D climate modelling, since its atmospheric circulation appears to be highly sensitive to the choice of the model parameters, including the convection parameterization. Parameterization of convection affects the climate not only on the day side of the planet, but also on the night side, via a change in stationary wave patterns, which are driven by the diabatic heating profile at the substellar longitude. Large changes in the surface temperature on the night side have implications for the habitability of similar planetary systems. A series of experiments are performed to show that the circulation regime's response to the convection parameterization depends on the atmospheric composition and total atmospheric pressure.
Zoom meeting details:
https://Universityofexeter.zoom.us/j/99009434027?pwd=OENpSVN1Ync2MXFNYzNBaWNWZTllQT09
Meeting ID: 990 0943 4027
Password: 918042
