troposphere Archives - Astrobiology

Integrated flux for ALMA’s CO(3-2) line measurement. Superposed as black circles on Neptune’s map are the beam positions observed onto the planet and used for the spatially resolved retrievals. The filled red circle in the lower-left corner indicates the size and orientation of the beam. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Neptune, Status Report

Latitudinal Variations In Neptune’s Temperature Profile Observed With ALMA

by Keith CowingMay 26, 2026May 26, 2026

Despite the low solar irradiation it receives, Neptune shows a very active atmosphere with some of the most intense dynamics observed in Solar System atmospheres. Characterizing the atmospheric temperature profiles […]

Select temporally averaged meridional mass streamfunctions taken from both tidally-locked (top row and bottom right) and exo-Earth-analogue (bottom left) atmospheric models. Panels in the left column show the (global) zonal mean of the circulation, whilst panels in the right column show the circulation calculated over a narrow (15◦ degree) zonal mean at the sub-stellar and anti-stellar points of our tidally-locked atmosphere respectively. Note that the meridional circulation is plotted on a log-scale with clockwise circulations shown in red and anti-clockwise circulations shown in blue. Together these circulations can combine to drive a net flow. -- astro-ph.EP

Analog Studies, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Status Report

The Response of Planetary Atmospheres to the Impact of Icy Comets III: Impact Driven Atmospheric Escape

by Keith CowingDecember 17, 2025December 17, 2025

In an Earth-analogue atmosphere, water vapour is a key carrier of hydrogen in the lower atmosphere with its transport above the tropopause controlling the atmospheric hydrogen escape rate.

Average Grad-CAM results for both study areas against the backdrop of the topography Satellite Navigation -- Satellite Navigation

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report

AI-enhanced Planetary Meteorology: Deep Learning Reveals Hidden Details In Earth’s Atmosphere

by Keith CowingSeptember 20, 2025September 20, 2025

Predicting local weather extremes remains one of the greatest hurdles in meteorology, which requires high-resolution, reliable humidity data. A new study unveils a breakthrough: the first high-resolution Global Navigation Satellite […]

Average FLEXPART time-altitude 120-hr backwards simulation for the composite of all 10 flights in 2014 (X axis denotes hours since 10.000 particles -log10 scale- were thrown at 3 h steps from Tokyo; colours denote concentration of particles in the total column from the surface up to 5 km; see Methods). “F” denotes flight days.--PNAS

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Panspermia, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release

Microorganisms Can Travel Vast Distances In Earth’s Troposphere

by Keith CowingSeptember 17, 2024September 17, 2024

Analysis of air samples taken at altitudes of up to 3,000 metres above Japan has revealed the presence of a vast range of viable bacteria and fungi transported by air […]

Possible methane vapor profiles in ice giants. In red we plot several possible methane vapor profiles constrained by observations from Sromovsky et al. (2014) and Irwin et al. (2021) (we plot the range of the latitudinal variations) and by saturation curves corresponding to Voyager 2 temperature profiles. Criterion curves in black indicate when moist convection is inhibited: when the specific concentration is higher than the critical specific concentration and the level is saturated, then the criterion applies. These possible methane vapor profiles are inspired by the tested profiles in Sromovsky et al. (2019) who talk about "descended profiles". -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Neptune, Status Report, Uranus

Storms and Convection on Uranus and Neptune: Impact of Methane Abundance Revealed by a 3D Cloud-resolving Model

by Keith CowingSeptember 16, 2024May 12, 2025

Uranus and Neptune have atmospheres dominated by molecular hydrogen and helium. In the upper troposphere, methane is the third main molecule and condenses, yielding a vertical gradient in CH4. This […]

Noctilucent clouds seen in the German city of Kühlungsborn. Its delicate and complex structure and flow indicate the presence of atmospheric gravity waves and turbulence. CREDIT Gerd Baumgarten/Leibniz-Institute of Atmospheric Physics

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Press Release, Space Weather & Heliophysics

Earth And Space Share The Same Turbulence

by Keith CowingJune 7, 2024June 7, 2024

In a paper published in Geophysical Research Letters, researchers have discovered that the turbulence in the thermosphere exhibits the same physical laws as the wind in the lower atmosphere. Furthermore, […]