Related papers: Thermal Inertia Controls on Titan's Surface Temper…
We present results of an investigation into the formation of nitrogen-bearing molecules in the atmosphere of Titan. We extend a previous model (Li et al. 2015, 2016) to cover the region below the tropopause, so the new model treats the…
Titan's atmospheric composition and dynamical state have previously been studied over numerous epochs by both ground- and space-based facilities. However, stratospheric measurements remain sparse during Titan's northern summer and fall. The…
We constructed a 6-degrees of freedom rotational model of Titan as a 3-layer body consisting of a rigid core, a fluid global ocean, and a floating ice shell. The ice shell exhibits partially-compensated lateral thickness variations in order…
Hadley cells dominate the meridional circulation of terrestrial atmospheres. The Solar System terrestrial atmospheres, Venus, Earth, Mars and Titan, exhibit a large variety in the strength, width and seasonality of their Hadley circulation.…
The EFIELD instrument is part of the geophysics and meteorology sensor package DraGMet on the Dragonfly mission, which will explore the surface of Titan in the mid-2030s. EFIELD consists of two electrodes designed to passively record the AC…
Synchronously orbiting, tidally-locked exoplanets with a dayside facing their star and a permanently dark nightside orbiting dim stars are prime candidates for habitability. Simulations of these planets often show the potential to maintain…
Relatively long-period nonsynchronized planets---such as warm Jupiters---potentially retain the primordial rotation, eccentricity, and obliquity that might encapsulate information on planetary climate and formation processes. To date, there…
It has been long puzzling whether the ice thickness variations observed on Enceladus can be sustained sorely by a polar-amplified bottom heating. The key to this question is to understand how the upward heat transport by convective plumes…
Twinning in crystalline materials plays an important role in many transformation and deformation processes, where underlying mechanisms can be strongly influenced by the structural, energetic and kinetic properties of associated twin…
Estimating surface properties such as porosity and grain sizes is key for planning lander missions and landing site selection on icy moons. However, spaceborne instruments do not measure the regolith properties directly: instead, they…
This PhD thesis consists on a study of the atmospheric dynamics of the planet Venus with data from two space missions separated in time: the Galileo mission and Venus Express. Concretely, images obtained with different wavelengths have been…
The spatial pattern of sea surface temperature (SST) plays a central role in shaping the climate system, yet the influence of land surface temperature (LST) remains poorly understood. Using a state-of-the-art coupled ocean--land--atmosphere…
Terrestrial planets at the inner edge of the habitable zone of late-K and M-dwarf stars are expected to be in synchronous rotation, as a consequence of strong tidal interactions with their host stars. Previous global climate model (GCM)…
We perform three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of surface-driven convection near the temperature of maximum density $\tilde T_{md}$. A dynamic surface boundary condition couples heat flux through the surface to the induced…
The atmospheres of hot Jupiters lie in a dynamical regime without a solar system analogue. The strongly irradiated daysides reach temperatures sufficiently hot for substantial thermal ionization of atmospheric species, resulting in flows…
As a contribution to the study of the habitability of extrasolar planets, we implemented a 1-D Energy Balance Model (EBM), the simplest seasonal model of planetary climate, with new prescriptions for most physical quantities. Here we apply…
Previous studies have demonstrated that continental carbon-silicate weathering is important to the continued habitability of a terrestrial planet. Despite this, few studies have considered the influence of land on the climate of a…
In-depth analyses of existing direct numerical simulations (DNS) data from various sources supported a logical and important classification of generic turbulent boundary layers (TBL), namely Type-A, -B and -C TBL, based on distribution…
The air entrainment due to the turbulence in a free surface boundary layer shear flow created by a horizontally moving vertical surface-piercing wall is studied through experiments and direct numerical simulations. In the experiments, a…
A sequence of pure-hydrogen CO5BOLD 3D model atmospheres of DA white dwarfs is presented for a surface gravity of log g = 8 and effective temperatures from 6000 to 13,000 K. We show that convective properties, such as flow velocities,…