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To calculate the emergent radiation field, a realistic atmospheric model and algorithm must be developed. The radiation field may be characterized by the emergent intensities of scattered light. This is possible only if the algorithm determines these intensities as dependent upon atmospheric and angular parameters.

We developed radiative transfer models to reproduce Titan’s visible and near infrared spectra, to determine the effects of the haze, and retrieve the methane abundances during Titan’s current southern summer. With ground-based high resolution spectra of CH3D absorption at 1.6 μm, we measured the global CH₃D abundance. Combined with observations of 8.6 μm emission of CH₃D and CH₄ that indicate their relative abundances, we thus determined the global CH₄ abundance. We expanded on these ground-based measurements, with improved radiative transfer models based on the Huygens DISR models, and spectra which resolve the spatial variation of the CH₃D lines. The profiles of CH3D thus obtained revealed that the methane abundance on the lowest 10 km of Titan’s atmosphere does not vary by more than 20% over 32°S-32°N. With the extensive coverage of Cassini VIMS observations at 0.35-1.6 μm, we determined the latitudinal variation of the methane at 20-50 km and of the haze. We find an ambiguity between the methane and haze abundances, so their gradients become coupled. At the lower limit of the methane gradient, the spectral variation observed can be reproduced with no methane change, and a haze density increase of 60% between 20°S and 10°S. The largest methane variation allowed by the data, derived assuming no haze variation with latitude, is a drop of 60% over latitudes 27°S to 19°N. Our analysis indicates that the latitudinal variations in Titan’s visible to near-IR albedo, the North/South Asymmetry, result primarily from variations in the thickness of the haze above 80 km altitude. The range of methane latitudinal variations allowed between 27°S to 19°N indicates temperature variations of no more than 1.5 K at 20-30 km, altitudes where the Huygens profile is saturated.

abstract: Planets are generally believed to form in protoplanetary disks within a few million years (Myr) to several hundred Myr. But planetary embryos or protoplanets likely exist before disk gas dissipates (in three to ten Myr), capturing H2 -rich primary atmospheres from the nebula. Exploring these primordial atmospheres of planets provides a pathway to understanding the origins and the diversity of planets in the solar system and beyond. In this dissertation, I studied the primary atmospheres by modeling their formation, their impacts on planet formation, and determining methods to characterize them on exoplanets. First, I numerically investigated the flow structures and dynamics of the primary atmospheres accreted on Earth-sized planets with eccentric orbits. Such planets can generate atmosphere-stripping bow shocks, as their relative velocities to the gas are generally supersonic. The atmospheres are three to four orders of magnitude less massive than those of planets with circular orbits. Hydrodynamic simulations also revealed large-scale recycling gas flow in the post-shock regions. This study provides important insights into the impacts of migration and scattering on primary atmospheres. Second, I looked into how the presence of the primary atmosphere affects the trajectories of chondrule precursors passing through a planetary bow shock. To determine what magnetic fields chondrules were exposed to as they cooled below their Curie points, I computed the gas properties and magnetic diffusion rates in the bow shock region of a planet with and without the primary atmosphere. I concluded that, if melted in planetary bow shocks, most chondrules were cooled in the far downstream and they probably recorded the background nebular field. Last, I studied the characterization of cloudy primary atmospheres on exoplanets using a Bayesian retrieval approach. I focused on obtaining bulk cloud properties and the impact of clouds on constraining various atmospheric properties through transmission spectroscopy using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Most key atmospheric and cloud inferences can be well constrained in the wavelength range (0.6 – 11 µ m) but there are different optimal wavelengths for constraining atmosphere or cloud parameters. Other results including degeneracies among cloud parameters can also serve as a guideline for future observers. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Astrophysics 2020

What sets the observable chemical composition of exoplanetary atmospheres? The available chemical abundance of the planet's natal protoplanetary disk gas will have a deciding role in the bulk abundance of the atmosphere very early in the planet's life. While late accretion of ices and inter-atmosphere physical processing can change the observable chemical abundances. We have developed a theoretical model which connects the chemical and physical evolution of an accretion disk with the growth of a young planet to predict the bulk chemical abundance of the planetary atmosphere that is inherited from the disk. We assess what variation in atmospheric chemical abundances are attributed to different planet formation histories. We find differences in the relative abundances of primary nitrogen carriers NH$_3$ and N$_2$ depending on {\it when} the planet accreted its gas. Early ($t<1$ Myr) accreters predominately accreted warmer gas which tend to have its nitrogen in NH$_3$, while later protoplanets accrete colder, more N$_2$ dominated gas. Furthermore we compute the carbon-to-oxygen ratio (C/O) for each planets, which is used to infer {\it where} a planet forms in its accretion disk. We find that each of our planets accrete their gas very close to the water ice line, thereby accreting `pristine' gas with C/O$_{planet}$ exactly matching its host star. We extend our results by tuning our initial disk parameters to reproduce the properties of the HL Tau disk. We produce three models that span the range of measured gas masses, and one model which studies a UV quiet system. We generally find that planet formation is efficient enough to produce a Jupiter-massed planet within the predicted 1 Myr age of the disk. We find a correspondence between the radial locations of ice lines within our astrochemical model and the set of observed dust gaps in the HL Tau system. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Nestes últimos anos, tivemos um aumento no interesse na monitoração dos efeitos da atividade humana sobre a atmosfera e o clima no planeta. O uso de técnicas de sensoriamento remoto têm sido utilizados em diversos estudos, inclusive em estudos relacionados à mudanças globais. Um sistema LIDAR de espalhamento, primeiro deste tipo no Brasil, tem sido usado para fornecer o perfil vertical do coeficiente de retroespalhamento de aerossóis em 532 nm para altitudes de 4 a 6 km acima do nível do mar. Neste estudo, foram utilizados dados coletados no ano de 2005. Estes dados foram correlacionados com dados do fotômetro solar CIMEL e também com dados meteorológicos. Os principais resultados indicaram existir um padrão no comportamento destes dados meteorológicos e a distribuição vertical do coeficiente de extinção obtido através do LIDAR. Em períodos desfavoráveis de dispersão atmosférica, ou seja, elevação da temperatura do ar associado a queda de umidade relativa, aumento da pressão atmosférica e baixa taxa de ventilação, foi possível determinar com boa precisão a altura da Camada Limite Planetária, tanto através do perfil vertical do coeficiente de extinção quanto através da técnica da temperatura potencial. A técnica LIDAR mostrou ser um importante aliado na determinação da estrutura termodinâmica da atmosfera, auxiliando a caracterizar a evolução da CLP ao longo do dia, devido a sua boa resolução espacial e temporal. / In these last years, we had an increase in the interest in the monitoring of the effect of the human activity being on the atmosphere and the climate in the planet. The remote sensing techniques has been used in many studies, also related the global changes. A backscattering lidar system, the first of this kind in Brazil, has been used to provide the vertical profile of the aerosol backscatter coefficient at 532 nm up to an altitude of 4-6 km above sea level. In this study, data has was collected in the year of 2005. These data had been correlated with data of solar photometer CIMEL and also with meteorological data. The main results had indicated to exist a standard in the behavior of these meteorological data and the vertical distribution of the extinction coefficient gotten through LIDAR. In favorable periods of atmospheric dispersion, that is, rise of the temperature of associated air the fall of relative humidity, increase of the atmospheric pressure and low ventilation tax, was possible to determine with good precision the height of the Planetary Boundary Layer, as much through the vertical profile of the extinction coefficient how much through the technique of the vertical profile of the potential temperature. The technique LIDAR showed to be an important tool in the determination of the thermodynamic structure of the atmosphere, assisting to characterize the evolution of the CLP throughout the day, which had its good space and secular resolution.

The sources and sinks of energy for transient waves in the Martian atmosphere are investigated, applying diagnostic techniques developed for the analysis of terrestrial baroclinic waves to output from a Mars General Circulation Model. These diagnostic techniques include the vertically averaged eddy kinetic energy and regression analysis. The results suggest that the primary source of the kinetic energy of the waves is baroclinic energy conversion in localized regions. It is also shown that there exist preferred regions of baroclinic energy conversion. In addition, it is shown that downstream baroclinic development plays an important role in the evolution of the waves and in the baroclinic energy conversion process. This is the first time that evidence for downstream baroclinic development has been found for an atmosphere other than the terrestrial one.

This dissertation explores the coupling between radiative and three-dimensional dynamical processes in the atmosphere of Titan, and their impact on the seasonal climate and recent paleoclimate. First, a simple calculation is used to demonstrate the atmospheric attenuation on the distribution of insolation. The maximum diurnal-mean surface insolation does not reach the polar regions in summertime, and this impacts both surface temperatures and their destabilizing effect on the atmosphere. Second, a detailed two-stream, fully non-gray radiative transfer model, written specifically for Titan but with high flexibility, is used to calculate radiative fluxes and the associated heating rates. This model reproduces Titan's temperature structure from the surface through the stratopause, over nearly six decades of pressure. Additionally, a physics parameterizations package is developed for Titan, in part based on similar methods from Earth atmospheric models, for use in a Titan general circulation model (GCM). Simulations with this model, including Titan's methane cycle, reproduce two important observational constraints---Titan's temperature profile and atmospheric superrotation---that have proven difficult to satisfy simultaneously for previous models. Simulations with the observed distribution of seas are used to examine the resulting distribution of cloud activity, atmospheric humidity, and temperatures, and show that these are consistent with dry mid- and low-latitudes, while the observed polar temperatures are reproduced as a consequence of evaporative cooling. Analysis of the surface energy budget shows that turbulent fluxes react to the surface insolation, confirming the importance of its distribution. Finally, the GCM is used to simulate Titan's climate during snapshots over the past 42 kyr that capture the amplitude range of variations in eccentricity and longitude of perihelion. The results show that the atmosphere is largely insensitive to orbital forcing, and that it invariably transports methane poleward, suggesting Titan's low-latitudes have been deserts for at least hundreds of thousands of years. In detail, seasonal asymmetries do affect the distribution of methane, moving methane to the pole with the weaker summer, though orbital variations do not imply a long-period asymmetry. If the timescale for the atmosphere to transport the surface liquid reservoir is sufficiently short, this explains the observed north-south dichotomy of lakes and seas.