Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 1996
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996dps....28.0508m&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #28, #05.08; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 28, p.1078
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Observations of the stratospheres of Uranus and Neptune indicate temperatures higher than predicted by radiative equilibrium models (Marley et al., 1995). We present numerical simulations of gravity wave propagation in Neptune's atmosphere that suggest that wave breaking supplies heating which can account for this temperature difference. The simulations treat convection using an adjustment scheme and parameterize turbulence locally with a diffusion coefficient based on an assumed mixing length and the local Richardson number. The wave parameters chosen for the model are based on the radio occultation data analysis of Hinson and Magalhaes (1993). Preliminary results show that while the turbulent heat flux is insignificant, dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy can be an important heating mechanism. The dissipation is found to occur with a layered structure, reminiscent of that seen in observations of clear air turbulence on Earth. The amount of dissipation depends on the assumed mixing length. For a mixing length of 100 meters, the zonal mean dissipation is of order 5 erg gm(-1) sec(-1) , approximately the amount required to bring the thermal balance models of Neptune's stratosphere into agreement with observations. If the turbulence is assumed to mix trace species with the same diffusion coefficient as momentum and heat, then our derived diffusion coefficient of ~ 10 m(2) sec(-1) is in good agreement with the eddy diffusion coefficient derived by Bezard et al. (1991) for their photochemical model of Neptune's stratosphere. Bezard, et al., JGR, 96, p. 18,961, 1991. Hinson and Magalhaes, ICARUS, 105, p 142, 1993. Marley, et al., Abs. in 27th Ann. DPS mtg., p. 33, 1995.
Friedson Andrew James
McHugh John P.
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