The atmospheric vertical structure of Uranus and Neptune from thermochemical models: the impact of model assumptions

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2026
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Abstract
Abstract The composition and temperature-pressure profile of the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune are not well-determined. As observational data are limited, we often rely on chemical equilibrium computations to infer atmospheric abundances and cloud formation. The inferred atmospheric structures, however, strongly depend on several fundamental assumptions such as the elemental abundances and ratios, the condensation properties of the assumed species, or a reference temperature for the adiabatic structure. In this study we investigate the effects of different metallicities (1 to 80 solar), element ratios (C/O and S/N, from 0.1 to 2 and 0.19 to 1.6) and 1 bar temperatures (66 to 86 K) on the vertical structure of ice giant atmospheres. In particular, we use the chemical equilibrium code FastChem to derive mixing ratios and cloud structures for CH4, NH3, H2S, H2O and NH4SH. We find that the models are very sensitive to the assumed parameters, yielding drastically different possible atmospheric structures. For the cases considered here, we find that mixing ratios and cloud deck altitudes can vary by more than an order of magnitude. Additionally, thermal profiles can differ by several tens of kelvins due to composition and 1-bar temperature. We advise that future ground-based observations and a dedicated mission to Uranus and/or Neptune are required to better characterize the atmospheric structure and composition of ice giants.
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Authors Thomas Douçot, Ravit Helled, Daniel Kitzmann, R. Hueso, Audrey Vorburger
Journal monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stag1550
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag1550
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