This research has involved the conduct of a series of laboratory measurements of the centimeter-wavelength opacity of water vapor along with the development of a hybrid radiative transfer ray-tracing simulator for the atmosphere of Jupiter which employs a model for water vapor opacity derived from the measurements. For this study an existing Georgia Tech high-sensitivity microwave measurement system (Hanley and Steffes , 2007) has been adapted for pressures ranging from 12-100 bars, and a corresponding temperature range of 293-525°K. Water vapor is measured in a mixture of hydrogen and helium. Using these measurements which covered a wavelength range of 6--20 cm, a new model is developed for water vapor absorption under Jovian conditions. In conjunction with our laboratory measurements, and the development of a new model for water vapor absorption, we conduct sensitivity studies of water vapor microwave emission in the Jovian atmosphere using a hybrid radiative transfer ray-tracing simulator. The approach has been used previously for Saturn (Hoffman, 2001), and Venus (Jenkins et al., 2001). This model has been adapted to include the antenna patterns typical of the NASA Juno Mission microwave radiometer (NASA/Juno -MWR) along with Jupiter's geometric parameters (oblateness), and atmospheric conditions. Using this adapted model we perform rigorous sensitivity tests for water vapor in the Jovian atmosphere. This work will directly improve our understanding of microwave absorption by atmospheric water vapor at Jupiter, and improve retrievals from the Juno microwave radiometer. Indirectly, this work will help to refine models for the formation of Jupiter and the entire solar system through an improved understanding of the planet-wide abundance of water vapor which will result from the successful opreation of the Juno Microwave Radiometer (Juno-MWR).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Committee Chair: Dr. Paul G. Steffes; Committee Member: Dr. Gregory D. Durgin; Committee Member: Dr. Robert D. Braun; Committee Member: Dr. Thomas K. Gaylord; Committee Member: Dr. Waymond R. Scott

The object of this research program has been to provide a baseline for microwave remote sensing of ammonia and water vapor in the atmosphere of Jupiter through laboratory measurements of their microwave absorption properties. Jupiter is not only the largest planet in our solar system, but one of the most interesting and complex. Despite a handful of spacecraft missions and many astronomical measurements, much of Jupiter s atmospheric dynamics and composition remain a mystery. Although constraints have been formed on the amount of certain gases present, the global abundances and distributions of water vapor (H2O) and ammonia (NH3) are relatively unknown. Measurements of H2O and NH3 in the Jovian atmosphere to hundreds of bars of pressure are best accomplished via passive microwave emission measurements. For these measurements to be accurately interpreted, however, the hydrogen and helium pressure-broadened microwave opacities of H2O and NH3 must be well characterized, a task that is very difficult if based solely on theory and limited laboratory measurements. Therefore, accurate laboratory measurements have been taken under a broad range of conditions that mimic those of the Jovian atmosphere. These measurements, performed using a newly redesigned high-accuracy system, and the corresponding models of microwave opacity that have been developed from them comprise the majority of this work. The models allow more accurate retrievals of H2O and NH3 abundances from previous as well as future missions to Jupiter and the outer planets, such as the NASA New Frontiers class Juno mission scheduled for launch in 2011. This information will enable a greater understanding of the concentration and distribution of H2O and NH3 in the Jovian atmosphere, which will reveal much about how Jupiter and our solar system formed and how similar planets could form in other solar systems, even planets that may be hospitable to life.

In order to fully understand the role methane (CH₄) plays in the microwave emission spectra of the deep atmospheres of the outer planets, over 280 laboratory measurements of the opacity of ammonia in a methane environment have been made in the 5-20 cm wavelength range. All opacity measurements were made with either 100 or 200 mbars of ammonia and with 1 to 3 bars of added methane in the 330-450K temperature range. A formalism for the absorptivity of ammonia broadened by methane has now been developed and had been applied to the Hanley et al. (Icarus, v. 202, 2009) model for the opacity of ammonia. Due to methane's relatively low abundance at Jupiter (~0.2% by volume), its effect on the microwave spectrum which will be observed by the Juno MWR (Microwave Radiometer) will be minimal. However, these experimental results will significantly improve the understanding of the microwave emission spectrum of Uranus and Neptune where methane plays a more dominant role.

La détection et la caractérisation d'exoplanètes apparaissent clairement comme des thèmes centraux de l'observation astronomique pour les années à venir. Les projets spatiaux ou au sol sont nombreux (HARPS, CoRoT, Kepler, JWST, SPHERE...), mais les études théoriques visant à l'analyse et à la compréhension des données recueillies et à venir sont nécessaires. Durant cette thèse j'ai étudié divers processus physiques affectant la structure interne et l'évolution des planètes géantes, aussi bien au sein, qu'à l'extérieur de notre système solaire. J'ai notamment modélisé en détail: -L'impact de l'irradiation intense émise par l'étoile sur l'atmosphère d'une planète à faible distance orbitale, et l'effet induit sur l'évolution interne de cette planète. -Le couplage par dissipation de marée de l'évolution orbitale et thermique d'une planète interagissant avec sa proche étoile parente. -L'effet de la déformation due aux marées sur les paramètres observables d'une planète en transit grâce au suivi photométrique de son passage devant l'étoile. -L'incidence sur la structure et l'évolution d'une diminution de l'efficacité du transport de chaleur par convection due à un gradient d'éléments lourd dans l'enveloppe gazeuse d'une planète géante, conduisant au phénomène de convection double-diffusive. A travers l'étude des ces divers processus, j'ai développé différents modèles analytiques et codes numériques qui sont à la fois flexibles et robustes, et qui permettent maintenant d'étudier certaines propriétés des nouveaux objets substellaires détectés à mesure qu'ils sont découverts. / The detection and characterization of extrasolar planets clearly appears as one of the main goals of observational astronomy for the coming years. Space and ground project are numerous, but theoretical studies aimed at analyzing and understanding available and future data are needed. During this thesis, I study various physical processes affecting the internal structure and evolution of both solar, and extrasolar giant planets. In particular I investigate : -the impact of the intense stellar irradiation received by a close in planet on its subsequent internal evolution. This allows me to quantify the radius anomaly of bloated Hot Jupiters and to constrain their internal composition. -the tidal and centrifugal distortion of a fluid planet. By using both analytical and numerical models, I show how non-sphericity of the planet affects transit measurements, yielding an underestimation of its radius. -how the presence of double-diffusive convection caused by a heavy elements gradient in the gaseous envelope of a planet can decrease the efficiency of its internal heat transport, and affect its structure and evolution. -the coupling between the orbital and the thermal evolution of a planet arising from the strong star-planet tidal interaction. Subsequently, I find that tidal heating alone is not a viable explanation for the observed radius anomaly of transiting planets. Through these different studies, I developed various analytical models and numerical codes that are both flexible and robust, and which now allow one to study the properties of new extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs as they are discovered.

Includes Van Allen thesis (M.S.)--University of Iowa, 1936, and thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Iowa, 1939.