Skip to main content
SearchLoginLogin or Signup

Coupling Atmospheric Dynamics to Jupiter’s Thermochemistry — Investigating the Sensitivity of Equilibrium on the Deep Water Abundance

Presentation #415.04 in the session Giant Planet Atmospheres (iPosters).

Published onOct 20, 2022
Coupling Atmospheric Dynamics to Jupiter’s Thermochemistry — Investigating the Sensitivity of Equilibrium on the Deep Water Abundance

The current composition of Jupiter is strongly coupled to the various formation mechanisms for the planet. Its compositional signature is tied to the when and how of early Solar System accretion. Studying the various constituents of its atmosphere help us understand its role in shaping the observed chemistry of our Solar System and the dynamical processes that were relevant during its formation. Measurements of thermochemically active molecules, especially water, provide important parameterizations of Jupiter’s accretion rate, and the volatile delivery mechanisms that were dominant during accretion. The atmospheric chemistry of the planet, however, is intricately tied to the hydrodynamics and microphysics of the atmosphere. With new constraints on the equatorial abundance of water, along with revised abundances of volatile chemical species such as GeH4, PH3, and AsH3 from the Juno mission, the interplay of the chemical disequilibrium and the deep atmosphere must be revisited.

In our work, we couple the well-established chemical timescale approach to the hydrodynamics and microphysics of the Jovian atmosphere. For this application, we use the “Simulating Non-hydrostatic Atmosphere on Planets” (SNAP) code to tie the microphysics of the deeper troposphere to the simplified disequilibrium of select chemical species. We use equilibrium estimates of CO, GeH4, PH3, and AsH3, along with their multiple interconversion timescales to integrate them as quasi-passive Lagrangian tracers. We investigate the various equilibrium formulations of these gases to constrain their sensitivity to the water enrichment factor, pressure, and temperature. These will function as inputs to the microphysics of the SNAP code. The coupling between atmospheric dynamics and disequilibrium species allows for stronger constraints on the Jovian deep water abundance. In particular, since CO and GeH4 are sensitive to the water enrichment factor and the vertical eddy-diffusion coefficient, our approach allows for a direct measurement of the vertical and meridional diffusion transport, constraining Jupiter’s deep water abundance.

Comments
0
comment
No comments here