Vertical temperature gradients on Uranus - Implications for layered convection

Details Vertical temperature gradients on Uranus - Implications for layered convection Vertical temperature gradients on Uranus - Implications for layered convection

Dec 1987

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987jgr....9215019g&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 92, Dec. 30, 1987, p. 15019-15029.

Physics

21

Altitude, Atmospheric Circulation, Convection Currents, Planetary Temperature, Temperature Gradients, Uranus Atmosphere, Infrared Spectroscopy, Ortho Hydrogen, Para Hydrogen, Radio Occultation, Voyager 2 Spacecraft

Scientific paper

Analyses of Voyager IR spectroscopy and radio occultation measurements confirm ground-based observations that the deep lapse rate of Uranus exceeds that for an adiabat of H2 in thermodynamic equilibrium. However, in approximately the same region of the atmosphere, Voyager IR and ground-based observations also indicate that the ratio of ortho to para hydrogen is near the equilibrium value. These two sets of observations can be reconciled by postulating the existence of rapid convective overturning within layers which are thin in comparison to a pressure scale height. Two forms of layered convection are examined. In one case, deposition of kinetic energy results in thin, rapidly overturning layers. Possible kinetic energy sources include braking waves and local instabilities. In the second case considered, molecular-weight discontinuities due to CH4 stratification stabilize the interfaces of thin layers. It is argued that both forms may be important in the convective portion of the Uranus atmosphere.

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