Zusammenfassung
Atmospheric heat redistribution shapes the remote appearance of rocky
exoplanets but there is currently no easy way to predict a planet's heat
redistribution from its physical properties. In this paper I derive an
analytical scaling theory for the heat redistribution on tidally locked rocky
exoplanets. The main parameters of the theory are a planet's equilibrium
temperature, its surface pressure, and its broadband longwave optical
thickness. I validate the theory against general circulation model simulations
of TRAPPIST-1b, GJ1132b, and LHS 3844b. I find that heat redistribution becomes
efficient, and a planet's observable thermal phase curve and secondary eclipse
start to deviate significantly from that of a bare rock, once surface pressure
exceeds O(1) bar. These results thus bridge the gap between theory and imminent
observations with the James Webb Space Telescope. They can also be used to
parameterize the effect of 3D atmospheric dynamics in 1D models, thereby
improving the self-consistency of such models.
Nutzer