The Sonora Substellar Atmosphere Models. II. Cholla: A Grid of Cloud-free, Solar Metallicity Models in Chemical Disequilibrium for the JWST Era

Exoplanet and brown dwarf atmospheres commonly show signs of disequilibrium chemistry. In the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) era, high-resolution spectra of directly imaged exoplanets will allow the characterization of their atmospheres in more detail, and allow systematic tests for the presence of chemical species that deviate from thermochemical equilibrium in these atmospheres. Constraining the presence of disequilibrium chemistry in these atmospheres as a function of parameters such as their effective temperature and surface gravity will allow us to place better constraints on the physics governing these atmospheres. This paper is part of a series of works presenting the Sonora grid of atmosphere models. In this paper, we present a grid of cloud-free, solar metallicity atmospheres for brown dwarfs and wide-separation giant planets with key molecular species such as CH4, H2O, CO, and NH3 in disequilibrium. Our grid covers atmospheres with T eff ∈ [500 K, 1300 K], log g ∈ [3.0, 5.5] (cgs) and an eddy diffusion parameter of log K zz = 2 , 4 and 7 (cgs). We study the effect of different parameters within the grid on the temperature and composition profiles of our atmospheres. We discuss their effect on the near-infrared colors of our model atmospheres and the detectability of CH4, H2O, CO, and NH3 using the JWST. We compare our models against existing MKO and Spitzer observations of brown dwarfs and verify the importance of disequilibrium chemistry for T dwarf atmospheres. Finally, we discuss how our models can help constrain the vertical structure and chemical composition of these atmospheres.

Drift of an ocean bottom electromagnetometer from the Bonin to Ryukyu Islands: estimation of the path and travel time by numerical tracking experiments

Ocean bottom electromagnetometers (OBEMs) installed on the seafloor around Nishinoshima Island (Bonin Islands) were missing after a December volcanic eruption. In February 2021, one was found on a beach on Iriomote Island (Ryukyu Islands), implying that it drifted westward for 1700 km. The reason(s) for the disappearance of the OBEMs and the path followed by the recovered OBEM while drifting are important information for future ocean bottom observations and seafloor volcanology in general. We conducted particle drifting simulations with and without horizonal eddy diffusion to estimate the possible drift path and duration of the recovered OBEM. Our simulations show that particles arriving at Iriomote Island have a 7–10% probability of having been transported from Nishinoshima; thus, such transport is not a rare occurrence. Transport durations in our simulations varied widely between 140 and 602 days depending on the drift paths. More detailed insight into the path and duration of drift of the OBEM will require further comparison between drifting simulations and growth histories of barnacles attached on the OBEM. A similar drift duration and path was reported for pumices that erupted from Fukutoku-Oka-no-Ba submarine volcano (southern Bonin Islands) during 18–21 January 1986 and arrived in the Ryukyu Islands in late May 1986. Such drifting simulations may prove useful for identifying the sources of drift pumices, and thus otherwise undetectable eruptions. Finally, the Fukutoku-Oka-no-Ba submarine volcano erupted on 13 August 2021, producing abundant pumice rafts that, based on our results, would likely arrive in the Ryukyu Islands. In fact, the beginning of October 2021, they began to arrive in the Ryukyu Islands. Graphical Abstract

Ocean Bottom Electromagnetometer Carried From Bonin to Ryukyu Islands by Sea Currents

Ocean bottom electromagnetometers (OBEMs) installed on the seafloor around Nishinoshima Island (Bonin Islands) were missing after a December volcanic eruption. In February 2021, one was found on a beach on Iriomote Island (Ryukyu Islands), implying that it drifted westward for 1,700 km. The reason(s) for the disappearance of the OBEMs and the path followed by the recovered OBEM while drifting are important information for future ocean bottom observations and seafloor volcanology in general. We conducted particle drifting simulations with and without horizonal eddy diffusion to estimate the possible drift path and duration of the recovered OBEM. Our simulations show that particles transported from Nishinoshima have a 7-10 % probability of arriving at Iriomote Island, which is thus not a rare occurrence. Transport durations in our simulations varied widely between 140 and 602 days depending on the drift paths. The most likely drift duration in our simulation was 150 – 180 days, with or without eddy diffusion, corresponding to the release from the seafloor of the OBEM between 22 August and 21 September 2020. These dates follow shortly after intensifying eruptions at Nishinoshima, which may have affected the seafloor around the island. A similar drift duration and path was reported for pumices that erupted from Fukutoku-Oka-no-Ba submarine volcano (northern Bonin Islands) during 18-21 January 1986 and arrived in the Ryukyu Islands in late May 1986. Such drifting simulations may prove useful for identifying the sources of drift pumices, and thus otherwise undetectable eruptions. Finally, the Fukutoku-Oka-no-Ba submarine volcano erupted on 13 August 2021, producing abundant pumice rafts that, based on our results, will likely arrive in the Ryukyu Islands in the coming months.

Variation of CO/CO2 profiles in the Marian mesosphere and lower thermosphere retrieved from TGO/NOMAD

<p>CO is produced by the photodissociation of CO<sub>2</sub> and recycled to CO<sub>2</sub> by the catalytic cycle involving HOx in the Martian atmosphere [e.g., McElroy & Donahue, 1972]. In the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region of Mars, the number density of CO is determined by photodissociation, diffusion, and atmospheric circulation. The increase of the CO mixing ratio in the MLT region and further enhancement in the polar region due to the transport of CO-enriched air via meridional circulation are predicted in the 3D models [Daerden et al., 2018; Holmes et al., 2019]. On the other hand, the decrease in the CO mixing ratio in the MLT region during a global dust storm is detected by TGO/ACS, which suggests that the increase in the hygropause altitude leads to the increase in the vertical range over which OH becomes available to convert into CO<sub>2</sub> [Olsen et al., 2021]. Additionally, a substantial variation of the homopause altitude has been investigated [Slipski et al., 2018; Jakosky et al., 2017; Yoshida et al., 2020], which suggests that the order of magnitude changes in the eddy diffusion coefficient at the homopause [Slipski et al., 2018], and then variations in the profile of CO mixing ratio in the MLT region. However, the effects of change in the eddy diffusion coefficient on the profile of CO mixing ratio have not been investigated. The variability of the CO mixing ratio profiles can be a clue for understanding the dynamical coupling between the lower and the upper atmospheres.</p> <p>To clarify the contributions of photochemistry, diffusion, and atmospheric circulation to the CO/CO<sub>2</sub> profiles in the MLT region, we use the Nadir and Occultation for MArs Discovery (NOMAD) instrument aboard Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). NOMAD solar occultation is designed as the combination of the Acousto Optical Turnable Filter and echelle grating [Neefs et al., 2015; Thomas et al., 2016]. NOMAD solar occultation operates in the wavelength range of 2.2 - 4.3 μm (2320 to 4350 cm<sup>-1</sup>) with a high spectral resolution (λ/dλ = 20000) [Vandaele et al., 2018]. It provides us CO and CO<sub>2</sub> spectra below 100 km and 180 km altitudes, respectively.</p> <p>In this study, we applied the equivalent width technique [Chamberlain and Hunten, 1987; Krasnopolsky, 1986] to derive a new set of CO and CO<sub>2</sub> column densities, respectively, with the observed atmospheric transmittance spectra by NOMAD solar occultation. The absorption lines centered at 4285.0, 4288.2, and 4291.5 cm<sup>-1</sup> for CO (2-0) band and 3358.7, 3364.9, and 3366.4 cm<sup>-1</sup> for CO<sub>2</sub> (21102-00001) band are carefully selected for retrievals due to the contribution of nearby and central orders [cf. Liuzzi et al., 2019]. It is noted that the line strengths of the selected CO<sub>2</sub> have high sensitivity to the background temperature. In this study, we applied the vertical profiles of temperature simulated in the GEM-Mars model [Neary et al., 2018; Daerden et al., 2019]. We retrieve the CO and CO<sub>2</sub> slant column densities between 60 and ~100 km altitudes because those slant opacities are saturated below 60 km altitude. The CO and CO<sub>2</sub> spectra observed from April 2018 to September 2020, corresponding to from MY 34 Ls ~ 150 to MY 35 Ls ~ 280, are investigated.</p> <p>We found that the retrieved CO/CO<sub>2</sub> ratio between 60 and ~100 km increases with altitude. A behavior of the decrease in the CO/CO<sub>2</sub> ratio during the global dust storm corresponds to the previous observations [Olsen et al., 2021]. However, the CO/CO<sub>2</sub> profiles also vary with season and latitude. For interpretation, the 1D photochemical model will be compared with newly obtained CO/CO<sub>2</sub> profiles, especially in order to discuss the contributions from the variations in eddy diffusion coefficient and photochemistry in the MLT region on Mars.</p>

Role of eddy diffusion in the delayed ionospheric response to solar flux changes

Simulations of the ionospheric response to solar flux changes driven by the 27 d solar rotation have been performed using the global 3-D Coupled Thermosphere Ionosphere Plasmasphere electrodynamics (CTIPe) physics-based numerical model. Using the F10.7 index as a proxy for solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) variations in the model, the ionospheric delay at the solar rotation period is well reproduced and amounts to about 1 d, which is consistent with satellite and in situ measurements. From mechanistic CTIPe studies with reduced and increased eddy diffusion, we conclude that the eddy diffusion is an important factor that influences the delay of the ionospheric total electron content (TEC). We observed that the peak response time of the atomic oxygen to molecular nitrogen ratio to the solar EUV flux changes quickly during the increased eddy diffusion compared with weaker eddy diffusion. These results suggest that an increase in the eddy diffusion leads to faster transport processes and an increased loss rate, resulting in a decrease in the ionospheric time delay. Furthermore, we found that an increase in solar activity leads to an enhanced ionospheric delay. At low latitudes, the influence of solar activity is stronger because EUV radiation drives ionization processes that lead to compositional changes. Therefore, the combined effect of eddy diffusion and solar activity leads to a longer delay in the low-latitude and midlatitude region.