| Abstract |
Dependence of the Gierasch-Rossow-Williams mechanism of super-rotation, driven by solar heating of the middle atmosphere (cloud layer) on parameters such as planetary size and rotation speed is considered. Based on the argument of Tsunoda Y. et al., 2021, where numerical simulations with a simplified GCM for a Venus-like setting are performed, the behavior of superrotation is summrized with respect to Rossby number. At low Rossby numbers (~7.5), intense zonal mean flows emerge near the poles, barotropic energy conversion is dominant, and steady equatorward eddy momentum transport , while at high Rossby numbers (~20), intensity of the circumpolar zonal mean flows decreases and their axes shift equatorward, barotropic and baroclinic energy conversions appear alternatingly, and equatorward eddy momentum transport appears intermittently. Applicability of those results in explaining the general circulations of planetary atmospheres will be discussed.
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