PHYS4652 Planetary Science

Lecture 4: Planetary
Atmospheres

LEE Man Hoi

 Earth Mercury

Venus in visible light Venus in ultraviolet Mars

• Earth: atmosphere with complex structure, seasonal
variation, clouds covering typically about half the
planet.
• Venus: atmosphere ~100 times more massive, no
seasonal changes, unbroken layer of dense clouds.
• Mars: tenuous, extreme diurnal (day-night) and
seasonal variations, occasional massive dust storms.
• Mercury: Very thin atmosphere ~ 10-15 times that of
Earth.
Jupiter Uranus

Saturn Neptune
• Giant planets mostly fluid (gas or liquid).
• Radius of planet: distance from center to 1 bar
pressure level.
• “Atmosphere”: layers from 1 bar pressure level
outward.
• “Interior”: below 1 bar level.
• All show banded structures with different degrees of
contrast (high for Jupiter and low for Uranus).
• Storm systems such as the Great Red Spot on
Jupiter and Great Dark Spot on Neptune.
 Visible Infrared Combination

• Titan is the second largest satellite in the Solar

System (after Ganymede).
• Only satellite with a thick atmosphere.
• Pressure 1.5 times sea-level pressure on Earth
• Average surface temperature ~ 95 K.
• Thick atmospheric haze in the visible, but can be
penetrated in infrared and radio (radar).
 1. Observations
In situ measurements
• Earth, Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Titan, Mercury,
and Enceladus.
• Gas chromatography: separate mixture of gases into
chemically distinct components.
• Mass spectrometry: measure
masses of molecules and
relative numbers of molecules of
each mass.
– Different molecules can have
the same mass.

Remote sensing (e.g. telescope or flyby)

• Spectroscopy: analysis of light emitted or absorbed
by sample.
– Central frequency of line: composition of gas and
wind velocity.
– Line profile: abundance, T, P, etc.
• Lines forming in troposphere (where T decreases
with altitude) may be seen in absorption against the
warm continuum background.
• Lines forming above troposphere (where T increases
with altitude) may be seen in emission against cooler
background.
• Width of line profile affected by
– Finite lifetime of excited states
– Thermal motion of atoms/molecules
– Pressure or collisional broadening.
• Atoms and molecules usually require photons in UV
to be excited from electronic ground state.
CO H
• Molecules can also undergo vibrational and rotational
transitions.
• Vibrational transition typically requires infrared photon.
• For heteronuclear diatomic (e.g. CO) and polyatomic
(e.g. H2O) molecules, uneven charge distribution Þ
changing electric dipole during vibration Þ vibrational
spectrum.
• No vibrational spectrum for homonuclear diatomic (e.g.
O2) molecule.
• He is difficult to detect
– Indirectly from pressure measured by spectral line
shapes of other constituents, if we assume He is
main missing constituent contributing pressure (H
and He most abundant elements in the Sun).
– Indirectly from refractive index of atmosphere from
radio wave transmission experiment and stellar
occultations.
• He is difficult to detect
– Direct Galileo Entry Probe measurement for
Jupiter.
 2. Density and Scale Height

dP/dz = -gr
P = rkT/µamamu

pressure scale
height.
 density scale height:

• See Tables E.9 – E.13 of Lissauer & de Pater for

basic atmospheric parameters and compositions of
planetary bodies.
 3. Thermal Structure
• Governed by heat sources and efficiency of energy
transport (which depends on opacity).

Heat Sources
• Reradiation of sunlight by surface or from deep in the
atmosphere in infrared.
• Internal heat sources for giant planets (Jupiter,
Saturn, and Neptune).
• Heating of upper atmosphere by EUV photons (100-
1000 Å or 10-100 eV) or charged particles from the
Sun (solar wind).
Energy Transport
• Conduction important near surface, if one exists, and
in upper part of thermosphere.
• Convection important in troposphere, leading to
adiabatic temperature profile.
• Energy transport by radiation if temperature gradient
in radiative equilibrium is smaller than the adiabatic
lapse rate. If larger, convection drives temperature
toward adiabatic lapse rate.

Other processes that can affect thermal structure:

• Chemical reactions changing composition and opacity.
• Clouds and haze changing opacity and releasing/absorbing
latent heat.
• Volcanoes and geyser activities.
• Interactions between atmosphere and crust and ocean.
• Biochemical and anthropogenic processes on Earth.
Observed Thermal Structure
Earth Venus
Mars Titan
• In lowest region, troposphere, T decreases with
increasing altitude.
– Condensable gases form clouds usually in this
region.
• In highest region, thermosphere, T increases with
increasing altitude.
• In between, mesosphere where T is nearly isothermal
or decreases slowly with altitude.
• For Earth and Titan, stratosphere between
troposphere and mesosphere, where T increases
with altitude.
Earth
• Surface temperature ~ 33 K higher than
equilibrium temperature due to
greenhouse effect by minor
components such as water vapor, CO2,
methane (CH4), ozone (O3) and nitrous
oxide (N2O).
• Stratosphere: Heating by ozone
absorption of UV.
• Mesosphere: Heating and cooling
through absorption and emission of
infrared radiation.
• Thermosphere: Heating by absorption
of solar UV (photodissociation and
ionization of O2).
Venus
• Large greenhouse effect due to dense atmosphere
(surface pressure ≈ 92 bar) of mostly CO2.
• No diurnal, latitudinal or temporal temperature
variations in lower parts of atmosphere.
Mars
• Average surface pressure of 6 mbar.
• Large diurnal, latitudinal and seasonal variations in
temperature (e.g., ~ 200K at night and ~ 300K during
the day at the equator).
 4. Atmospheric Composition
• Abundance in
volume mixing ratio:
fraction of total
number of
molecules.

Earth, Venus and Mars

• Primarily N2 and O2
on Earth.
• Both Venus and
Mars are mainly CO2
(+ some N2).
• Absorption by CO2 in troposphere.
• Emission spikes at centers of CO2 and O3 lines in
Earth’s spectrum from stratosphere.
• For Mars, CO2 seen in absorption at mid-latitudes
and emission in polar regions.
• Venus: SO2
abundance near
cloud tops varies
over time.
– Due to present-
day volcanic
eruptions?

(Jessup et al. 2015)

Mercury
• Very thin atmosphere
• Na, K, Ca, O kicked up from surface by solar wind
and micrometeorites.
• H and He captured from solar wind.
Titan
• > 95% N2 and a few percent
methane (CH4).
• CO2, CO and a wide variety
of hydrocarbons (ethane
C2H6, acetylene C2H2, etc.)
and nitriles.
• Complex organic chemistry in the atmosphere using
UV photons.
• Haze due to hydrocarbon aerosols.
Jupiter
• 86.2% H2, 13.6% He, 0.2% CH4, also NH3, H2O, H2S,
C2H2 (acetylene), C2H4 (ethylene), C2H6 (ethane),
PH3, and CO.
• H to He ratio similar to the Sun.
• C, N and P mostly in molecules with H.
• C2H2, C2H4, and C2H6 from interaction of methane
with solar UV.
• Galileo Probe
– C, N and S more abundant than in the Sun.
– Low in H2O: entry site unusually dry spot?
– Puzzle: noble gases Ar, Kr, and Xe about 3 times
more abundant than in the Sun.
Saturn
• He fraction uncertain: could be 88-96% H2 and 11-
3% He.
• Moderately poor to very poor in He.
Uranus and Neptune
• 80-83% H2, 15-18% He, 2% methane.
 Stratosphere and Oxygen
Photochemistry on Earth
• Stratosphere between 10-16 km
and 50 km on Earth.
• Absorption and heating
mechanism: Ozone O3.
• Concentration of O3 highest in
ozone layer between 15 and 30
km.
• O2 absorbs radiation with l <
230nm and is split into atoms by
radiation with l < 140nm.
• O3 absorbs 200-350nm.
 https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30889

• UV harmful to life is transmitted by thermosphere and

absorbed in stratosphere.
• Ozone produced by interaction of solar radiation with
O2 via, e.g., Chapman scheme.
• O2:
– Photodissociation:
O2 + hn ® O + O
– Recombination:
O + O + M ® O2 + M
O + O2 + M ® O3 + M
• O3 (Chapman Scheme):
– Formation:
O2 + hn ® O + O
O + O2 + M ® O3 + M
– Destruction:
O3 + hn ® O2 + O
O + O3 ® O2 + O2
– Also catalytic destruction.
• Density of O atoms decreases with decreasing
altitude, because number density of solar UV photons
decreases exponentially with optical depth (or with
decreasing altitude).
• Density of O2 decreases with increasing altitude,
following the overall density of the atmosphere.
• Ozone peaks in number density at ~ 30 km.
 5. Clouds

• Cloud: region of atmosphere where a component has

condensed to form small liquid droplets or solid
particles.
• Clouds modify surface temperature and atmospheric
structure by
– the reflection of sunlight.
– the absorption of sunlight.
– the release of latent heat of condensation in their
formation.
Cloud Development
• Consider water vapor in Earth’s
atmosphere.
• Saturated air:
– Evaporation (or sublimation)
is balanced by condensation
(or deposition).
– Droplets form if water vapor is
added.
• Vapor Pressure: pressure
exerted by water molecules in an
air parcel.
• Saturation Vapor Pressure:
vapor pressure if air were
saturated at a given temperature.
• Consider a parcel of air at point A rising upward in
troposphere.
• Parcel cools adiabatically as it rises from A to D, with
temperature decreasing according to dry adiabatic
lapse rate (≈ 10 K km-1).
• At point D, air parcel is
saturated.
• With further rise and cooling, vapor pressure
decreases along D-D′-Ttr.
- Liquid water droplets condense out.
- Release of latent heat of condensation decreases
lapse rate.
• If T drops below triple point
temperature Ttr, formation of
ice and further decrease in
lapse rate.
Wet Adiabatic Lapse Rate

Clausius-Clapeyron equation:
wet adiabatic lapse rate
Venus
• Thick and extensive cloud layer from 45 to 65 km
above surface.
• Droplets of sulfuric acid H2SO4 (plus H2O).

Venus in visible light Venus in ultraviolet

Violet-light image showing clouds Near-infrared image of lower-level
near top of Venus's cloud deck clouds on the night side of Venus ~ 50
(Galileo) km above surface and 15 km below
visible cloud tops (Galileo)

Infrared image (Venus Express)

Mars
• Clouds of solid particles of H2O and CO2.
• Low total average cloud coverage.
Titan
• Temperature and pressure range just right for
methane to exist in gas, liquid and solid phases.
• Methane clouds in middle troposphere.
Jupiter and Saturn
• Upper layer of NH3 ice clouds, middle layer NH4HS
ice clouds and lower layer H2O ice clouds.
• Galileo Probe saw only traces of NH3 and NH4HS
cloud layers and no water clouds: Did it enter a hot
spot (a warm and cloud-free part of Jupiter)?
Uranus and Neptune
• Atmosphere cold enough for layer of CH4 ice clouds.
Other important aspects of planetary atmospheres that
we have not covered:
• Atmospheric motion and wind equations
• Origins and evolution of planetary atmospheres