The rotational and divergent components of atmospheric circulation on tidally locked planets
Abstract
Tidally locked exoplanets have a permanent day side and night side. Understanding the atmospheric circulation on these planets is crucial for interpreting telescope observations and assessing their habitability. We show that the main components of the circulation—a jet going around the planet, stationary atmospheric waves, and direct flow from the day side to the night side—can be separated using a simple mathematical decomposition. This decomposition will significantly aid future study of tidally locked atmospheres. As an illustration, we use it to quantify heat transport due to different components of the circulation. This analysis reveals that the direct day-night component can dominate heat transport from the day side to the night side, even when the jet is strong.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- March 2021
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.2022705118
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2102.11760
- Bibcode:
- 2021PNAS..11822705H
- Keywords:
-
- UAT:498;
- UAT:112;
- Helmholtz decomposition;
- Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics;
- Physics - Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
- E-Print:
- Accepted for publication in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 11 pages, 10 figures