HR: 1340h
AN: P33B-1294 [Abstracts]
TI: Venus Wind Spin-up Experiments with Topography; Sensitivity to Model Resolution
AU: * Sayanagi, K M
EM: kunio.sayanagi@louisville.edu
AF: Comparative Planetology Lab, University of Louisville, 200 Sackett Hall, University of
Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, United States
AU: Ghurtskaia, N
EM: ngkhar01@louisville.edu
AF: Comparative Planetology Lab, University of Louisville, 200 Sackett Hall, University of
Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, United States
AU: Dowling, T E
EM: dowling@louisville.edu
AF: Comparative Planetology Lab, University of Louisville, 200 Sackett Hall, University of
Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, United States
AB:
We present new increased-resolution Venus spin-up experiments with topography using the latest hybrid vertical
coordinate EPIC atmosphere model (Dowling et. al., Icarus, 182, 2006). We previously reported lower-resolution
simulations and showed that the presence of topography substantially accelerates the spin-up of Venusian
superrotating winds (Herrnstein and Dowling, JGR, 112, 2007). Our experiments also showed that, with 5-
degree resolution, a large stationary eddy develops over Ishtar Terra, north-polar highland region. Here, we test
the sensitivity of our previous results to the model resolution, and investigate the effect of finer-scale topographic
features on the wind spin-up. Topographic features including an equatorial mountain range were recently
discovered on Titan, another slow-rotating planetary body with a thick atmosphere (Stofan et. al., Icarus 186,
2006), and we explore the effects of Titan mountain ranges on the superrotation spin-up also. We aim to
compare the effects of prominent topographic features on the resulting equator-to-pole Hadley circulations when
the mountains are in the polar region (e.g., Venus) and when they are around the equator (Titan).
This research is funded by the NSF Planetary Astronomy Program and NASA Planetary Atmospheres Program.
DE: 5405 Atmospheres (0343, 1060)
DE: 5445 Meteorology (3346)
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting