Surface Variability of Short-wavelength Radiation and Temperature on Exoplanets around M Dwarfs
Abstract
It is a common practice to use 3D General Circulation Models (GCM) with spatial resolution of a few hundred kilometers to simulate the climate of Earth-like exoplanets. The enhanced albedo effect of clouds is especially important for exoplanets in the habitable zones around M dwarfs that likely have fixed substellar regions and substantial cloud coverage. Here, we carry out mesoscale model simulations with 3 km spatial resolution driven by the initial and boundary conditions in a 3D GCM and find that it could significantly underestimate the spatial variability of both the incident short-wavelength radiation and the temperature at planet surface. Our findings suggest that mesoscale models with cloud-resolving capability be considered for future studies of exoplanet climate.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- March 2017
- DOI:
- 10.3847/2041-8213/aa62fc
- Bibcode:
- 2017ApJ...837L..27Z
- Keywords:
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- planets and satellites: atmospheres;
- planets and satellites: terrestrial planets