3D Structures of equatorial waves and the resulting superrotation in the atmosphere of a tidally locked hot Jupiter

TL;DR

This paper develops an analytical linear wave model to explain the three-dimensional equatorial wave structures and superrotation phenomena in the atmosphere of tidally locked hot Jupiters, validated by numerical simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a linear wave analysis framework that explains wave features and jet development in hot Jupiter atmospheres, linking wave dynamics to superrotation.

Findings

Analytic solutions qualitatively match 3D simulation results.

Wave structures exhibit westward tilt and double gyres, indicating Rossby-wave resonance.

Jet acceleration is influenced by wave momentum flux divergence and resonance effects.

Abstract

Three-dimensional equatorial trapped waves excited by stellar isolation and the resulting equatorial superrotating jet in a vertical stratified atmosphere of a tidally-locked hot Jupiter are investigated. Taking the hot Jupiter HD 189733b as a fiducial example, we analytically solve a set of linear equations subject to stationary stellar heating with a uniform zonal-mean flow included. We also extract wave information in the final equilibrium state of the atmosphere from the radiative hydrodynamical simulation for HD 189733b by Dobbs-Dixon & Agol (2013). We find that the analytic wave solutions are able to qualitatively explain the three-dimensional simulation results. Studying the vertical structure of waves allows us to explore new wave features such as the westward tilt of wavefronts related to the Rossby-wave resonance as well as double gyres of dispersive Rossby waves. We also make an attempt to apply our linear wave analysis to explain some numerical features associated with the equatorial jet development seen in the GCM by Showman & Polvani (2011). During the spin-up phase of the equatorial jet, the acceleration of the jet as a result of the divergence of the wave momentum flux can be in principle boosted by the Rossby-wave resonance as the superrotating jet speed is close to the phase speed of the Rossby waves. However, we also find that as the jet speed increases, the Rossby-wave structure shifts eastward, while the Kelvin-wave structure remains approximately stationary, leading to the decline of the acceleration rate. Our analytic model of jet evolution implies that there exists only one stable equilibrium state of the atmosphere, possibly implying that the final state of the atmosphere is independent of initial conditions in the linear regime. Limitations and future improvements are also discussed.