Volatile transport on inhomogeneous surfaces: II. Numerical calculations (VT3D)

Abstract

Several distant icy worlds have atmospheres that are in vapor-pressure equilibrium with their surface volatiles, including Pluto, Triton, and, probably, several large KBOs near perihelion. Studies of the volatile and thermal evolution of these have been limited by computational speed, especially for models that treat surfaces that vary with both latitude and longitude. In order to expedite such work, I present a new numerical model for the seasonal behavior of Pluto and Triton which (i) uses initial conditions that improve convergence, (ii) uses an expedient method for handling the transition between global and non-global atmospheres, (iii) includes local conservation of energy and global conservation of mass to partition energy between heating, conduction, and sublimation or condensation, (iv) uses time-stepping algorithms that ensure stability while allowing larger timesteps, and (v) can include longitudinal variability. This model, called VT3D, has been used in Young (2012), Young (2013), Olkin et al. (2015), Young and McKinnon (2013), and French et al. (2015).