An Innovative Modeling Approach for Understanding Venus' Cloud-layer Dynamics, Polar Vortices, and the Influence of Waves

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

Even though spacecraft have visited the planet Venus many times, little is understood about how Venus? middle and upper atmosphere and clouds move and interact. The recent spacecraft Venus Express provides new data to consider when modeling activity in the atmosphere. The investigators will model Venus' middle and upper atmosphere using special, rigorous computer programs. For this modeling, they set the base atmospheric level to be considered as the height above Venus' surface where clouds are observed. Different types of waves will be introduced as forces at this base atmospheric level to see how they drive the circulation in the atmosphere. The new measurements from Venus Express will guide and confirm the computer modeling, making more realistic models of Venus' middle and upper atmosphere. The results of this modeling will be fed back to other scientists modeling the Earth?s atmosphere to understand climate change, thus benefiting the national interest. The investigators will also design classroom experiments related to planetary atmospheres for middle and high schools, and undergraduate and graduate college-level classes. The dynamics and circulation of the planet Venus' atmosphere at cloud heights and above are poorly understood. In this study, the principal investigator will employ an innovative approach to modeling the dynamics of Venus' atmosphere, using a computer code based on the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM). The lower boundary of the atmosphere to be modeled is defined to begin at the height where clouds are observed above Venus' surface. Dynamical calculations will focus on this cloud-level atmosphere. Different kinds of waves will be introduced, including tides, Rossby waves, and gravity waves, to effect forces at the lower boundary of the atmosphere. New measurements from the Venus Express spacecraft mission at cloud levels and above will guide and validate the atmospheric modeling. Venus' middle and upper atmosphere can then be modeled at locations in time and space where data have not yet been measured. Adaptations of the CAM computer code for the Earth?s atmosphere resulting from this study of Venus' atmosphere will be fed back to the Earth climate research community, benefiting the national interest in understanding climate change. The investigators will design a series of STEM-related practical experiments addressing the physics of planetary atmospheres for UCLA outreach middle and high schools, and for undergraduate and graduate university classes.