On the radio occultation method for studying planetary atmospheres

An automated method for tracking clouds in planetary atmospheres

We present an automated method for cloud tracking which can be applied to planetary images. The method is based on a digital correlator which compares two or more consecutive images and identifies patterns by maximizing correlations between image blocks. This approach bypasses the problem of feature detection. Four variations of the algorithm are tested on real cloud images of Jupiter’s white o...

The seasonal cycle of planetary boundary layer depth determined using COSMIC radio occultation data

[1] The seasonal cycle of planetary boundary layer (PBL) depth is examined globally using observations from the Constellation Observing System for the Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) satellite mission. COSMIC uses GPS radio occultation to derive the vertical profile of refractivity at high vertical resolution (~100m). Here, we apply an algorithm to determine PBL top height and thu...

Planetary Atmospheres Program on a program of research on the d , , j / o ? 3 ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES

H3+ cooling in planetary atmospheres.

We review the role of H3+ in planetary atmospheres, with a particular emphasis on its effect in cooling and stabilising, an effect that has been termed the "H3+ thermostat" (see Miller et al., Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London, Ser. A, 2000, 58, 2485). In the course of our analysis of this effect, we found that cooling functions that make use of the partition function, Q(T) based on the calculated ...

On the radiative equilibrium of irradiated planetary atmospheres

Context. The evolution of stars and planets is mostly controlled by the properties of their atmosphere. This is particularly true in the case of exoplanets close to their stars, for which one has to account both for an (often intense) irradiation flux, and from an intrinsic flux responsible for the progressive loss of the inner planetary heat. Aims. The goals of the present work are to help und...