1. Global climate model occultation lightcurves tested by August 2018 ground-based stellar occultation
- Author
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Leslie A. Young, Sihe Chen, Eliot F. Young, Tanguy Bertrand, Yuk L. Yung, François Forget, Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539) (LMD), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Département des Géosciences - ENS Paris, École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), and Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)
- Subjects
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP) ,Haze ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,FOS: Physical sciences ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,Astrophysics ,01 natural sciences ,Occultation ,Pluto ,Atmosphere ,Physics - Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics ,13. Climate action ,Space and Planetary Science ,[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] ,General Circulation Model ,Middle latitudes ,0103 physical sciences ,Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics (physics.ao-ph) ,Stellar occultation ,010303 astronomy & astrophysics ,Southern Hemisphere ,Geology ,ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS ,Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
Pluto's atmospheric profiles (temperature and pressure) have been studied for decades from stellar occultation lightcurves. In this paper, we look at recent Pluto Global Climate Model (GCM) results (3D temperature, pressure, and density fields) from Bertrand et al. (2020) and use the results to generate model observer's plane intensity fields (OPIF) and lightcurves by using a Fourier optics scheme to model light passing through Pluto's atmosphere ( Young, 2012 ). This approach can accommodate arbitrary atmospheric structures and 3D distributions of haze. We compared the GCM model lightcurves with the lightcurves observed during the 15-AUG-2018 Pluto stellar occultation. We find that the climate scenario which best reproduces the observed data includes a N2 ice mid latitude band in the southern hemisphere. We have also studied different haze and P/T ratio profiles: the haze effectively reduces the central flash strength, and a lower P/T ratio both reduces the central flash strength and incurs anomalies in the shoulders of the central flash.
- Published
- 2021
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