S. Lebonnois, G. Schubert, F. Forget, and A. Spiga. Planetary boundary layer and slope winds on Venus. Icarus, 314:149-158, 2018. [ bib | DOI | PDF version | ADS link ]
Few constraints are available to characterize the deep atmosphere of Venus, though this region is crucial to understand the interactions between surface and atmosphere on Venus. Based on simulations performed with the IPSL Venus Global Climate Model, the possible structure and characteristics of Venus' planetary boundary layer (PBL) are investigated. The vertical profile of the potential temperature in the deepest 10 km above the surface and its diurnal variations are controlled by radiative and dynamical processes. The model predicts a diurnal cycle for the PBL activity, with a stable nocturnal PBL while convective activity develops during daytime. The diurnal convective PBL is strongly correlated with surface solar flux and is maximum around noon and in low latitude regions. It typically reaches less than 2 km above the surface, but its vertical extension is much higher over high elevations, and more precisely over the western flanks of elevated terrains. This correlation is explained by the impact of surface winds, which undergo a diurnal cycle with downward katabatic winds at night and upward anabatic winds during the day along the slopes of high-elevation terrains. The convergence of these daytime anabatic winds induces upward vertical winds, that are responsible for the correlation between height of the convective boundary layer and topography.
I. Garate-Lopez and S. Lebonnois. Latitudinal variation of clouds' structure responsible for Venus' cold collar. Icarus, 314:1-11, 2018. [ bib | DOI | PDF version | ADS link ]
Global Climate Models (GCM) are very useful tools to study theoretically the general dynamics and specific phenomena in planetary atmospheres. In the case of Venus, several GCMs succeeded in reproducing the atmosphere's superrotation and the global temperature field. However, the highly variable polar temperature and the permanent cold collar present at 60o -80o latitude have not been reproduced satisfactorily yet.Here we improve the radiative transfer scheme of the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace Venus GCM in order to numerically simulate the polar thermal features in Venus atmosphere. The main difference with the previous model is that we now take into account the latitudinal variation of the cloud structure. Both solar heating rates and infrared cooling rates have been modified to consider the cloud top's altitude decrease toward the poles and the variation in latitude of the different particle modes' abundances.
A new structure that closely resembles the observed cold collar appears in the average temperature field at 2 ×104 - 4 ×103 Pa (~ 62 - 66 km) altitude range and 60o -90o latitude band. It is not isolated from the pole as in the observation-based maps, but the obtained temperature values (220 K) are in good agreement with observed values. Temperature polar maps across this region show an inner warm region where the polar vortex is observed, but the obtained 230 K average value is colder than the observed mean value and the simulated horizontal structure does not show the fine-scale features present within the vortex.
The comparison with a simulation that does not take into account the latitudinal variation of the cloud structure in the infrared cooling computation, shows that the cloud structure is essential in the cold collar formation. Although our analysis focuses on the improvement of the radiative forcing and the variations it causes in the thermal structure, polar dynamics is definitely affected by this modified environment and a noteworthy upwelling motion is found in the cold collar area.
M. Lefèvre, S. Lebonnois, and A. Spiga. Three-Dimensional Turbulence-Resolving Modeling of the Venusian Cloud Layer and Induced Gravity Waves: Inclusion of Complete Radiative Transfer and Wind Shear. Journal of Geophysical Research (Planets), 123:2773-2789, 2018. [ bib | DOI | PDF version | ADS link ]
Venus' convective cloud layers and associated gravity waves strongly impact the local and global budget of heat, momentum, and chemical species. Here we use for the first time three-dimensional turbulence-resolving dynamical integrations of Venus' atmosphere from the surface to 100-km altitude, coupled with fully interactive radiative transfer computations. We show that this enables to correctly reproduce the vertical position (46- to 55-km altitude) and thickness (9 km) of the main convective cloud layer measured by Venus Express and Akatsuki radio occultations, as well as the intensity of convective plumes (3 m/s) measured by VEGA balloons. Both the radiative forcing in the visible and the large-scale dynamical impact play a role in the variability of the cloud convective activity with local time and latitude. Our model reproduces the diurnal cycle in cloud convection observed by Akatsuki at the low latitudes and the lack thereof observed by Venus Express at the equator. The observed enhancement of cloud convection at high latitudes is simulated by our model, although underestimated compared to observations. We show that the influence of the vertical shear of horizontal superrotating winds must be accounted for in our model to allow for gravity waves of the observed intensity (1 K) and horizontal wavelength (up to 20 km) to be generated through the obstacle effect mechanism. The vertical extent of our model also allows us to predict for the first time a 7-km-thick convective layer at the cloud top (70-km altitude) caused by the solar absorption of the unknown ultraviolet absorber.
T. Navarro, G. Schubert, and S. Lebonnois. Atmospheric mountain wave generation on Venus and its influence on the solid planet's rotation rate. Nature Geoscience, 11:487-491, 2018. [ bib | DOI | PDF version | ADS link ]
The Akatsuki spacecraft observed a 10,000-km-long meridional structure at the top of the cloud deck of Venus that appeared stationary with respect to the surface and was interpreted as a gravity wave. Additionally, over four Venus solar days of observations, other such waves were observed to appear in the afternoon over equatorial highland regions. This indicates a direct influence of the solid planet on the whole Venusian atmosphere despite dissimilar rotation rates of 243 and 4 days, respectively. How such gravity waves might be generated on Venus is not understood. Here, we use general circulation model simulations of the Venusian atmosphere to show that the observations are consistent with stationary gravity waves over topographic highsor mountain wavesthat are generated in the afternoon in equatorial regions by the diurnal cycle of near-surface atmospheric stability. We find that these mountain waves substantially contribute to the total atmospheric torque that acts on the planet's surface. We estimate that mountain waves, along with the thermal tide and baroclinic waves, can produce a change in the rotation rate of the solid body of about 2 minutes per solar day. This interplay between the solid planet and atmosphere may explain some of the difference in rotation rates (equivalent to a change in the length of day of about 7 minutes) measured by spacecraft over the past 40 years.
P. L. Read and S. Lebonnois. Superrotation on Venus, on Titan, and Elsewhere. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 46:175-202, 2018. [ bib | DOI | PDF version | ADS link ]
The superrotation of the atmospheres of Venus and Titan has puzzled dynamicists for many years and seems to put these planets in a very different dynamical regime from most other planets. In this review, we consider how to define superrotation objectively and explore the constraints that determine its occurrence. Atmospheric superrotation also occurs elsewhere in the Solar System and beyond, and we compare Venus and Titan with Earth and other planets for which wind estimates are available. The extreme superrotation on Venus and Titan poses some difficult challenges for numerical models of atmospheric circulation, much more difficult than for more rapidly rotating planets such as Earth or Mars. We consider mechanisms for generating and maintaining a superrotating state, all of which involve a global meridional overturning circulation. The role of nonaxisymmetric eddies is crucial, however, but the detailed mechanisms may differ between Venus, Titan, and other planets.
M. Sylvestre, N. A. Teanby, S. Vinatier, S. Lebonnois, and P. G. J. Irwin. Seasonal evolution of C2N2, C3H4, and C4H2 abundances in Titan's lower stratosphere. Astronomy Astrophysics, 609:A64, 2018. [ bib | DOI | arXiv | PDF version | ADS link ]
<BR /> Aims: We study the seasonal evolution of Titan's lower stratosphere (around 15 mbar) in order to better understand the atmospheric dynamics and chemistry in this part of the atmosphere. <BR /> Methods: We analysed Cassini/CIRS far-IR observations from 2006 to 2016 in order to measure the seasonal variations of three photochemical by-products: C4H2, C3H4, and C2N2. <BR /> Results: We show that the abundances of these three gases have evolved significantly at northern and southern high latitudes since 2006. We measure a sudden and steep increase of the volume mixing ratios of C4H2, C3H4, and C2N2 at the south pole from 2012 to 2013, whereas the abundances of these gases remained approximately constant at the north pole over the same period. At northern mid-latitudes, C2N2 and C4H2 abundances decrease after 2012 while C3H4 abundances stay constant. The comparison of these volume mixing ratio variations with the predictions of photochemical and dynamical models provides constraints on the seasonal evolution of atmospheric circulation and chemical processes at play.