Storms operated by moist convection and the condensation of CH4 or H2S have been observed on Uranus and Neptune. However, the mechanism of cloud formation, thermal structure, and mixing efficiency of ice giant weather layers remains unclear. In this paper, we show that moist convection is limited by heat transport on giant planets, especially on ice giants where planetary heat flux is weak. Latent heat associated with condensation and evaporation can efficiently bring heat across the weather layer through precipitations. This effect was usually neglected in previous studies without a complete hydrological cycle. We first derive analytical theories and show that the upper limit of cloud density is determined by the planetary heat flux and microphysics of clouds but is independent of the atmospheric composition. The eddy diffusivity of moisture depends on the planetary heat fluxes, atmospheric composition, and surface gravity but is not directly related to cloud microphysics. We then conduct convection- and cloud-resolving simulations with SNAP to validate our analytical theory. The simulated cloud density and eddy diffusivity are smaller than the results acquired from the equilibrium cloud condensation model and mixing length theory by several orders of magnitude but consistent with our analytical solutions. Meanwhile, the mass-loading effect of CH4 and H2S leads to superadiabatic and stable weather layers. Our simulations produced three cloud layers that are qualitatively similar to recent observations. This study has important implications for cloud formation and eddy mixing in giant planet atmospheres in general and observations for future space missions and ground-based telescopes.
Heat-flux-limited Cloud Activity and Vertical Mixing in Giant Planet Atmospheres with an Application to Uranus and Neptune
- Creators
- Ge 葛, Huazhi 华志
- Li, Cheng
- Zhang, Xi
- Moeckel, Chris
Abstract
Copyright and License
© 2024. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Acknowledgement
We acknowledge Xiaoshan Huang for making the conceptual art in Figure 1. H.G. acknowledges useful discussions with Michael H. Wong, Peter Gao, Imke de Pater, Edward Molter, Tristan Guillot, and Andrew P. Ingersoll. We acknowledge the useful and constructive comments from two anonymous referees. H.G. is supported by NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship 80NSSC18K1268, the dissertation quarter fellowship from UC Santa Cruz, and 51 Pegasi b fellowship (grant #2023-4466) from the Heising-Simons Foundation. C.L. was supported by NASA's Juno project NNM06AA75C and subaward to the University of Michigan with project No. Q99063JAR. X.Z. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation grant AST2307463, NASA Exoplanet Research grant 80NSSC22K0236, and the NASA Interdisciplinary Consortia for Astrobiology Research (ICAR) grant 80NSSC21K0597. C.M. was supported by NASA's Solar System Observations (SSO) award 80NSSC18K1001 to the University of California, Berkeley. H.G. acknowledges NASA's supercomputer Pleiades and supercomputer Lux at UC Santa Cruz, funded by NSF MRI grant AST 1828315.
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Additional details
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship 80NSSC18K1268
- University of California, Santa Cruz
- Heising-Simons Foundation
- 51 Pegasi b Fellowship 2023-4466
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- NNM06AA75C
- University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
- Q99063JAR
- National Science Foundation
- AST-2307463
- NASA Exoplanet Research
- 80NSSC22K0236
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- 80NSSC21K0597
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- 80NSSC18K1001
- National Science Foundation
- AST-1828315