Abstract
We review several aspects of the calculation of exoplanet model atmospheres in the current era, with a focus on understanding the temperature-pressure profiles of atmospheres and their emitted spectra. Most of the focus is on gas giant planets, both under strong stellar irradiation and in isolation. The roles of stellar irradiation, metallicity, surface gravity, C/O ratio, interior fluxes, and cloud opacity are discussed. Connections are made to the well-studied atmospheres of brown dwarfs as well as sub-Neptunes and terrestrial planets, where appropriate. Illustrative examples of model atmosphere retrievals on a thermal emission spectrum are given and connections are made between atmospheric abundances and the predictions of planet formation models.
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Acknowledgements
I would like thank the organizers of the 2nd Advanced School of Exoplanetary Sciences (ASES2) for the opportunity to give lectures at the school on the beautiful Amalfi Coast. It was a fantastic experience and I benefit from great interactions with the attendees. The lectures and this chapter benefited significantly from many discussions with Mark Marley going back to 2004. Christopher Seay aided the chapter greatly by generating many of the figures. Mike Line provided figures and gave significant input on the atmospheric retrieval section. Caroline Morley helped in ways large and small. Callied Hood, Kat Feng, and Maggie Thompson provided essential comments.
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Fortney, J.J. (2018). Modeling Exoplanetary Atmospheres: An Overview. In: Bozza, V., Mancini, L., Sozzetti, A. (eds) Astrophysics of Exoplanetary Atmospheres. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 450. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89701-1_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89701-1_2
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