Dynamical similarity of Earth and Titan: circulation, clouds, and convection
Abstract
We will summarize preliminary results from our numerical experiments with the primary goal to determine how an Earth-like climate with abundant surface liquids, relatively low amounts of water vapor, and partial cloud cover would transition to a Titan-like climate with limited liquids, more abundant water vapor and limited cloud cover. Our experiment has three, primary control parameters: 1) the rotation rate; 2) the saturation vapor pressure; and 3) the amount of water in the (assumed land) reservoir. Our prior work has focused solely on the effect of varying rotation rate, for instance on the position of a seasonal ITCZ (Faulk et al. 2017), or the emergence of strong superrotation (Mitchell & Vallis 2010). This program is a natural extension of these studies, but now makes use of a hierarchy of climate models from 1D and 3D radiative-convective equilibrium to GCM simulations of the climate, and adds two dimensions to the parameter space exploration (surface liquids and saturation vapor pressure). Although we expect a primary distinguishing factor between climate states to be the coverage, height, mass, etc. of clouds produced in the model, our preliminary results will focus on the circulation and convection changes accompanying changes in our control parameters with less emphasis on the clouds.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFM.A53D..06M
- Keywords:
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- 3310 Clouds and cloud feedbacks;
- ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES;
- 3314 Convective processes;
- ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES;
- 3319 General circulation;
- ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES;
- 1616 Climate variability;
- GLOBAL CHANGE