论文标题

土星在北部夏至的季节性气氛

Saturn's Seasonal Atmosphere at Northern Summer Solstice

论文作者

Fletcher, L. N., Sromovsky, L., Hue, V., Moses, J. I., Guerlet, S., West, R. A., Koskinen, T.

论文摘要

卡西尼(Cassini)在土星的轨道任务的寿命令人难以置信,为迄今为止季节性巨型星球提供了最全面的探索。这篇评论探讨了土星在北春和夏至(2015-2017)之间不断变化的全球温度,成分和气溶胶特性,从而扩展了我们先前对卡西尼(Cassini)遥感调查的审查(2004-14,Fletcher等,2018)。结果是土星气候的前所未有的记录,该记录跨越了几乎一半的土星一年,可用于测试辐射气候模型,中性和离子光化学模型以及大气循环模型的季节性预测。观察到从北部冬季到北部夏季的对流层和平流层温度的半球不对称。碳氢化合物和para氢的空间分布响应于大气动力学(例如,季节性逆转HADLEY细胞,极地平流层涡流形成,赤道赤道平流层振荡和半球间运输);对流层和平流层气溶胶表现出光学厚度的变化,可调节土星的可见颜色(从蓝色色调到北部北部的金色外观),反射率和近乎边缘的发射。辐射平衡和光化学的数值模拟在复制观察到的季节变化和相位滞后方面做得很好,但是模型和观察之间的差异仍然存在,这表明大气动力学的作用至关重要,并且需要将化学和辐射方案与下一代循环模型相结合和辐射方案。随着卡西尼(Cassini)的灭亡,对土星的季节的扩展研究(从北部夏季到秋季)将需要地面和太空观测值的能力,因为我们热切地等待土星的下一个轨道探险家。

The incredible longevity of Cassini's orbital mission at Saturn has provided the most comprehensive exploration of a seasonal giant planet to date. This review explores Saturn's changing global temperatures, composition, and aerosol properties between northern spring and summer solstice (2015-2017), extending our previous review of Cassini's remote sensing investigations (2004-14, Fletcher et al., 2018) to the grand finale. The result is an unprecedented record of Saturn's climate that spans almost half a Saturnian year, which can be used to test the seasonal predictions of radiative climate models, neutral and ion photochemistry models, and atmospheric circulation models. Hemispheric asymmetries in tropospheric and stratospheric temperatures were observed to reverse from northern winter to northern summer; spatial distributions of hydrocarbons and para-hydrogen shifted in response to atmospheric dynamics (e.g., seasonally-reversing Hadley cells, polar stratospheric vortex formation, equatorial stratospheric oscillations, and inter-hemispheric transport); and upper tropospheric and stratospheric aerosols exhibited changes in optical thickness that modulated Saturn's visible colours (from blue hues to a golden appearance in the north near solstice), reflectivity, and near-infrared emission. Numerical simulations of radiative balance and photochemistry do a good job in reproducing the observed seasonal change and phase lags, but discrepancies between models and observations still persist, indicating a crucial role for atmospheric dynamics and the need to couple chemical and radiative schemes to the next generation of circulation models. With Cassini's demise, an extended study of Saturn's seasons, from northern summer to autumn, will require the capabilities of ground- and space-based observatories, as we eagerly await the next orbital explorer at Saturn.

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