PDS: The Planetary Atmospheres Node
Cover Page/Proposal Summary
ROSS-99 NRA 99-OSS-01
Date Due: 5/3/99
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This proposal shall be used and disclosed for evaluation purposes only, and a copy of this Government notice shall be applied to any reproduction or abstract thereof. Any authorized restrictive notices that the submitter places on this proposal shall also be strictly complied with. Disclosure of this proposal for any reason outside the Government evaluation purposes shall be made only to the extent authorized by the Government. |
| Proposal Type: New Proposal |
| Proposal Category: Atmosphere Structures and Particles |
| Major Equipment Proposal? No |
| Do you intend to submit an Education/Public Outreach (E/PO) proposal? No |
| Proposal Title: |
| Structure and Composition of Planetary Atmospheres |
| Abbreviated Proposal Title: |
| Structure and Composition of Planetary Atmospheres |
| Principal Investigator: |
| Dr.
Roger Yelle Astronomy Center for Space Physics Boston University 725 Commonwealth Avenue Room 400 Boston, MA 02215 Phone: 617-353-4459 Fax: 617-353-6463 E-mail: Yelle@bu-ast.bu.edu |
| Signature | Date |
| _____________________________________ | ____________ |
| Co-Investigators and Collaborators: | |||
| Type | Name | Affiliation | |
| Sci Co-I | Dr. Leslie A. Young | Boston University | layoung@deepthought.bu.edu |
| Sci Collab | Dr. Richard E. Young | NASA Ames Research Center | reyoung@arc.nasa.gov |
| Sci Collab | Dr. Caitlin A. Griffith | Northern Arizona University | griffith@vela.phy.nau.edu |
Proposal Summary:
The structure and composition of planetary atmospheres will be investigated through analysis and interpretation of observations and construction of theoretical models. The investigation encompasses both atmospheres in our solar system and extra-solar planets. The specific topics to be addressed can be grouped into three categories: gravity waves in jovian planet atmospheres, the structure and composition of brown dwarf atmospheres, and UV spectroscopy of outer solar system bodies. The propagation of gravity waves in the atmosphere of Jupiter will be studied as well as their effects on the structure of the stratosphere and thermosphere. We propose a more rigorous theoretical investigation of the dissipation of gravity waves by molecular effects than has been carried out to date. We will extend our analysis of gravity waves to the stratosphere to investigate the cause of the "universal" m-3 spectrum and the consequences of the spectrum for vertical transport and energy balance in the atmosphere. The possibility that the observed gravity waves are generated by convection in the troposphere will be examined and used to extend the Jupiter results to other gas giants. We will continue the analysis and interpretation of brown dwarf spectra to infer atmospheric thermal structure and composition. The work done on GL229B will be extended to other brown dwarfs using the same approaches and techniques. A radiative-convective model, based on our radiative-conductive model, will be developed to aid in the analysis. The analysis and interpretation of UV spectra of the outer planets will continue by examining the latitudinal variation of gaseous absorbers and aerosols on Jupiter and assessing the implications of these variations for stratospheric dynamics.
