Atmospheric Overturning Circulation on Dry, Tidally Locked Rocky Planets Is Mainly Driven by Radiative Cooling

Abstract

In this study, we examine the driving mechanism for the atmospheric overturning circulation on dry, tidally locked rocky planets without the condensation of water vapor or other species. We find that the main driving process is the radiative cooling of CO2 (or other noncondensable greenhouse gases) rather than CO2 greenhouse warming or stellar radiation. Stellar radiation is the ultimate mechanism but not the direct mechanism. Due to the combination of the uneven distribution in the stellar radiation and effective horizontal energy transports in the free troposphere, there is strong temperature inversion in the area away from the substellar region. This inversion makes CO2 have a radiative cooling effect rather than a radiative warming effect for the atmosphere, the same as that in the stratosphere of Earth’s atmosphere. This cooling effect produces negative buoyancy and drives large-scale downwelling, supporting the formation of a global-scale overturning circulation. If CO2 is excluded from the atmosphere, the overturning circulation becomes very weak, regardless of the level of stellar radiation. This mechanism is completely different from that for the atmospheric overturning circulation on Earth or on moist, tidally locked rocky planets, where latent heat release and/or baroclinic instability are the dominated mechanisms. Our study improves the understanding of the atmospheric circulation on tidally locked exoplanets and also on other dry planets, such as Venus and Mars in the solar system.