Computer Science
Scientific paper
Jan 1992
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992phdt........17m&link_type=abstract
Ph.D. Thesis Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD.
Computer Science
Atmospheric Circulation, Atmospheric Composition, Hydrocarbons, Uranus Atmosphere, Advection, Continuity Equation, Cooling, Equatorial Regions, Latitude, Molecular Diffusion, Subsidence, Temperature Gradients, Turbulent Diffusion, Vertical Distribution
Scientific paper
Observations by the Ultraviolet Spectrometer (UVS) onboard the Voyager 2 spacecraft revealed that above the 1 mb level, the mixing ratios of CH4, C2H2, and C2H6 are at least 10-100 times larger at the equator than at the south pole. In addition, the Voyager 2 Infrared Interferometric Spectrometer (IRIS) measured small meridional temperature gradients at the tropopause (60-200 mb) and in the upper troposphere (200-1000 mb) of Uranus. These temperature gradients result from a weak meridional circulation in the Uranian troposphere which penetrates into the stratosphere with upwelling at low southern latitudes and polar subsidence (vertical velocities approximately 10(exp -6) m/s, meridional velocities approximately 10(exp -3) m/s). The role of the zonally-averaged, meridional stratospheric circulation in determining the distribution of hydrocarbons in the stratosphere (0.1-100 mb) of Uranus is investigated with a 2-dimensional photo-chemical transport model. The stratospheric circulation is calculated with a linear, zonally-symmetric model with Newtonian cooling and Rayleigh friction similar to that used by Flasar et al. (1987). Operator-splitting is utilized to numerically solve the continuity equations for trace species in the stratosphere of Uranus. It is determined that advective transport by the stratospheric circulation can account for the essential observed meridional variation of stratospheric hydrocarbon abundances. However, vertical transport by eddy and molecular diffusion is required to fit the inferred vertical distribution of hydrocarbons. The uniform eddy diffusion coefficient is constrained to 10 sq cm/s less than K less than 100 sq cm/s (i.e. constant in both altitude and latitude). The best fit model has a meridional circulation three times stronger than the circulation of Flasar et al. and a weak uniform eddy diffusion coefficient, K = 100 sq cm/s.
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