374 citations · 2.6k across the 39 of their papers we have counts for
39 papers
The Inhomogeneity Effect II: Rotational and Orbital States Impact Planetary Cooling
Xi Zhang
We generalize the theory of the inhomogeneity effect to enable comparison among different inhomogeneous planets. A metric of inhomogeneity based on the cumulative distribution func…
The Inhomogeneity Effect I: Inhomogeneous Surface and Atmosphere Accelerate Planetary Cooling
Xi Zhang
We propose a general principle that under the radiative-convective equilibrium, the spatial and temporal variations in a planet's surface and atmosphere tend to increase its coolin…
The Inhomogeneity Effect III: Weather Impacts on the Heat Flow of Hot Jupiters
Xi Zhang, Cheng Li, Huazhi Ge +1
The interior flux of a giant planet impacts atmospheric motion, and the atmosphere dictates the interior's cooling. Here we use a non-hydrostatic general circulation model (Simulat…
Photochemically-produced SO in the atmosphere of WASP-39b
Shang-Min Tsai, Elspeth K. H. Lee, Diana Powell +82
Photochemistry is a fundamental process of planetary atmospheres that regulates the atmospheric composition and stability. However, no unambiguous photochemical products have been…
Depletion of gaseous CO in protoplanetary disks by surface-energy-regulated ice formation
Diana Powell, Peter Gao, Ruth Murray-Clay +1
Empirical constraints of fundamental properties of protoplanetary disks are essential for understanding planet formation and planetary properties (1,2). Carbon monoxide (CO) gas is…
A Fast, Semi-analytical Model for the Venusian Binary Cloud System
Longkang Dai, Xi Zhang, Jun Cui
The Venusian clouds originate from the binary condensation of HSO and HO. The two components strongly interact with each other via chemistry and cloud formation.…
A Simple Condensation Model for the H2SO4-H2O Gas-cloud System on Venus
Longkang Dai, Xi Zhang, Wencheng D. Shao +2
The current Venus climate is largely regulated by globally-covered concentrated sulfuric acid clouds from binary condensation of sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and water (H2O). To understan…
A bimodal distribution of haze in Pluto's atmosphere
Siteng Fan, Peter Gao, Xi Zhang +8
Pluto, Titan, and Triton make up a unique class of solar system bodies, with icy surfaces and chemically reducing atmospheres rich in organic photochemistry and haze formation. Haz…
Local-time Dependence of Chemical Species in the Venusian Mesosphere
Wencheng D. Shao, Xi Zhang, João Mendonça +1
Observed chemical species in the Venusian mesosphere show local-time variabilities. SO2 at the cloud top exhibits two local maxima over local time, H2O at the cloud top is uniforml…
A Cross-Laboratory Comparison Study of Titan Haze Analogs: Surface Energy
Jialin Li, Xinting Yu, Ella Sciamma-O'Brien +5
In Titan's nitrogen-methane atmosphere, photochemistry leads to the production of complex organic particles, forming Titan's thick haze layers. Laboratory-produced aerosol analogs,…
Cleaning our Hazy Lens: Exploring Trends in Transmission Spectra of Warm Exoplanets
Austin H. Dymont, Xinting Yu, Kazumasa Ohno +3
Relatively little is understood about the atmospheric composition of temperate to warm exoplanets (equilibrium temperature 1000 K), as many of them are found to have…
Haze Evolution in Temperate Exoplanet Atmospheres Through Surface Energy Measurements
Xinting Yu, Chao He, Xi Zhang +13
Photochemical hazes are important opacity sources in temperate exoplanet atmospheres, hindering current observations from characterizing exoplanet atmospheric compositions. The haz…
How to identify exoplanet surfaces using atmospheric trace species in hydrogen-dominated atmospheres
Xinting Yu, Julianne I. Moses, Jonathan J. Fortney +1
Sub-Neptunes (Rp~1.25-4 REarth) remain the most commonly detected exoplanets to date. However, it remains difficult for observations to tell whether these intermediate-sized exopla…
Haze Formation on Triton
Kazumasa Ohno, Xi Zhang, Ryo Tazaki +1
The largest moon of Neptune, Triton, possess a cold and hazy atmosphere. Since the discovery of near-surface haze layer during the Voyager fly in 1989, the haze formation mechanism…
3D simulations of photochemical hazes in the atmosphere of hot Jupiter HD 189733b
Maria E Steinrueck, Adam P. Showman, Panayotis Lavvas +3
Photochemical hazes have been suggested as candidate for the high-altitude aerosols observed in the transmission spectra of many hot Jupiters. We present 3D simulations of the hot…
Surface Energy of the Titan Aerosol Analog "Tholin"
Xinting Yu, Sarah Horst, Chao He +3
The photochemical haze produced in the upper atmosphere of Titan plays a key role in various atmospheric and surface processes on Titan. The surface energy, one important physical…
The Science Case for a Titan Flagship-class Orbiter with Probes
Conor A. Nixon, James Abshire, Andrew Ashton +36
We outline a flagship-class mission concept focused on studying Titan as a global system, with particular emphasis on the polar regions. Investigating Titan from the unique standpo…
Atmospheric Regimes and Trends on Exoplanets and Brown Dwarfs
Xi Zhang
A planetary atmosphere is the outer gas layer of a planet. Besides its scientific significance among the first and most accessible planetary layers observed from space, it is close…
A Global Non-Hydrostatic Atmospheric Model with a Mass and Energy Conserving Vertically-Implicit-Correction (VIC) Scheme
Huazhi Ge, Cheng Li, Xi Zhang +1
Global non-hydrostatic atmospheric models are becoming increasingly important for studying the climates of planets and exoplanets. However, such models suffer from computational di…
Revisiting the Sulfur-Water Chemical System in the Middle Atmosphere of Venus
Wencheng D. Shao, Xi Zhang, Carver J. Bierson +1
Sulfur-water chemistry plays an important role in the middle atmosphere of Venus. Ground based observations have found that simultaneously observed SO2 and H2O at ~64 km vary with…
Aerosol Composition of Hot Giant Exoplanets Dominated by Silicates and Hydrocarbon Hazes
Peter Gao, Daniel P. Thorngren, Elspeth K. H. Lee +6
Aerosols are common in the atmospheres of exoplanets across a wide swath of temperatures, masses, and ages. These aerosols strongly impact observations of transmitted, reflected, a…
Deflating Super-Puffs: Impact of Photochemical Hazes on the Observed Mass-Radius Relationship of Low Mass Planets
Peter Gao, Xi Zhang
The observed mass-radius relationship of low-mass planets informs our understanding of their composition and evolution. Recent discoveries of low mass, large radii objects ("super-…
Transit Signatures of Inhomogeneous Clouds on Hot Jupiters: Insights From Microphysical Cloud Modeling
Diana Powell, Tom Louden, Laura Kreidberg +3
We determine the observability in transmission of inhomogeneous cloud cover on the limbs of hot Jupiters through post processing a general circulation model to include cloud distri…
Atmospheres on Nonsynchronized Eccentric-tilted Exoplanets II: Thermal Light Curves
Kazumasa Ohno, Xi Zhang
Thermal light-curve analysis is a powerful approach to probe the thermal structures of exoplanetary atmospheres, which are greatly influenced by the planetary obliquity and eccentr…