Exploring the atmospheres of the Giant Planets with James Webb

与詹姆斯·韦伯一起探索巨行星的大气层

• 批准号: 2604636
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Leicester
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2604636
• 关键词: Exploring; atmospheres; Giant; Planets; James

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), scheduled for launch near the start of this PhD programme, is set to revolutionise our understanding of planetary atmospheres in this Solar System and beyond. Its 6.5-m diameter shielded mirror, combined with state-of-the-art infrared instrumentation, will provide exquisite observations of Solar System targets. Researchers at the University of Leicester were directly involved in the development of the MIRI instrument (5-30 micron spectroscopy in the mid-infrared), and Leicester planetary scientists have unique access to guaranteed-time observations of all four giant planets, to be acquired during the first year of operations (2021-22). The PhD candidate would be welcomed to a team of planetary atmospheres researchers at Leicester, to be trained in inversions of infrared spectroscopy to extract useful information on temperatures, chemical distributions, clouds, and atmospheric dynamics. The student will use a well-developed suite of radiative transfer and spectral inversion tools (known as NEMESIS) to compare previous spacecraft observations of Jupiter and Saturn to the highly-anticipated new data from JWST. The spatial distributions of gases will allow the student freedom to pursue a variety of scientific questions: (i) the ratios of key elemental abundances and isotope ratios to constrain planetary origins; (ii) the use of condensable volatiles (like ammonia) and disequilibrium species (like phosphine) to track changes in atmospheric dynamics (e.g., belts and zones, and large-scale structures like Jupiter's Great Red Spot and Saturn's polar hexagon); and (iii) the coupling of jovian weather with the chemically-rich middle atmospheres of the giant planets. Through these studies, the student will gain skills in processing and manipulating spacecraft data, extensive software development, and will have the opportunity to engage with the wider community of planetary observers across the globe. JWST observations will be supplemented by a campaign of ground-based supporting observations from world-leading facilities (e.g., observatories in Chile and Hawaii). Given the risks involved with the JWST mission, this studentship can still be undertaken with existing spacecraft data (primarily from Cassini and Juno), supplemented by our ongoing programme of ground-based planetary astronomy.With Leicester's current involvement in Juno and JWST, and future involvement in the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE), this Planetary Science PhD project offers the potential for exciting new discoveries on the giant planets. Successful PhD candidates would have some prior background in coding, as they will be using Fortran, IDL, and Python-based packages on Leicester's High-Performance Computing facility. Some prior knowledge of planetary atmospheric science and radiative transfer is desirable.

詹姆斯韦伯太空望远镜（JWST），计划在这个博士课程开始时发射，将彻底改变我们对太阳系及其他行星大气的理解。其直径为6.5米的屏蔽镜，结合最先进的红外仪器，将提供对太阳系目标的精密观测。莱斯特大学的研究人员直接参与了MIRI仪器（中红外5-30微米光谱）的开发，而莱斯特的行星科学家拥有对所有四颗巨行星的实时观测的独特访问权，将在运行的第一年（2021-22年）获得。博士候选人将受到欢迎的行星大气研究小组在莱斯特，在红外光谱反演培训，以提取有用的信息，温度，化学分布，云，和大气动力学。学生将使用一套成熟的辐射传输和光谱反演工具（称为NEMESIS），将以前的木星和土星航天器观测与JWST备受期待的新数据进行比较。气体的空间分布将允许学生自由追求各种科学问题：（i）关键元素丰度和同位素比率的比率，以限制行星的起源;（ii）使用可冷凝挥发物（如氨）和不平衡物种（如磷化氢）来跟踪大气动力学的变化（例如，（iii）木星天气与巨行星中富含化学物质的中层大气的耦合。通过这些研究，学生将获得处理和操纵航天器数据的技能，广泛的软件开发，并将有机会与地球仪更广泛的行星观测者社区接触。JWST观测将得到来自世界领先设施的地面支持观测活动的补充（例如，智利和夏威夷的天文台）。考虑到JWST使命的风险，这项研究仍然可以利用现有的航天器数据进行（主要来自卡西尼号和朱诺号），辅以我们正在进行的地基行星天文学计划。随着莱斯特目前参与朱诺号和JWST，以及未来参与木星冰月探测器（JUICE），这个行星科学博士项目提供了巨大行星上令人兴奋的新发现的潜力。成功的博士候选人将有一些编码的背景，因为他们将在莱斯特的高性能计算设施上使用Fortran、IDL和基于Python的软件包。最好先了解行星大气科学和辐射转移。