Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.u23e0092p&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #U23E-0092
Other
0343 Planetary Atmospheres (5210, 5405, 5704), 3319 General Circulation (1223), 3367 Theoretical Modeling, 6295 Venus
Scientific paper
We describe the results of initial simulations of the Venusian atmosphere, using the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM). The CAM model is a descendant of the NCAR Community Climate Model, and is defined as one of two "high-end" models designated by the US Climate Change Science Program for basic research. It may also be the most widely used 3D climate model in the US. CAM has grown substantially in complexity and Earth-specificity since the original version was released in 1983, and many of these Earth based physics parameterizations need to be adjusted to simulate the Venus atmosphere. Other groups are adapting CAM to simulate the atmospheres of Mars and Titan, thereby promising CAM simulation for all four terrestrial planets known to have substantial atmospheres. Studying these worlds together will provide calibration of Earth-centric studies of climate changes like global warming. It will also provide context for future searches for Earth-like planets orbiting other stars. In this work we will focus on Venus. The Venus atmosphere represents an extreme environment, strongly influenced by the greenhouse effect, and studying the Venus atmosphere may therefore be relevant to the possible future direction of the Earth's climate. The dynamical processes which occur in the Venusian atmosphere are not well understood, including the cause of the strong superrotation of the atmosphere, in which the planetary surface rotates with a period of around 243 days, but the atmosphere near the cloud tops has a rotational period of only around 4 days. We show the results of initial simulations of the dynamics of the Venus atmosphere, using a version of the CAM model with most of the Earth related processes, such as the cloud physics, removed. A simplified form of heating has been applied, similar to the thermal forcing approach used recently by other authors. We investigate the sensitivity of the model results to changes in the physics parameterizations we have used, including changes in the friction at the upper and lower boundaries, in the heating function, and in dissipation mechanisms, as well as the effects of introducing topography. We analyse the model results to determine the nature of the dynamical processes that produce the characteristics of the Venus atmosphere. We are implementing a self consistent model of the thermodynamic radiative forcing by a detailed calculation of the radiative fluxes at each level in the CAM model, in order to produce a more realistic representation of the thermal forcing which helps to generate the observed structure of the Venusian atmosphere. The radiation model is based on the Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique Venus GCM, including parameterizations of the radiation at short and infrared wavelengths.
Covey Curtis
Grossman Allen
Parish Helen F.
Schubert Gerald
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