ExoPlaSim

This release incorporates a large array of changes meant to allow PlaSim to model almost any vaguely Earth-like terrestrial planet in the habitable zone. Notably, the blackbody temperature of the parent star can be specified, or a high-resolution input spectrum can be specified. The albedos of ground, water, and snow/ice have been updated with high-resolution reflectance spectra from the JPL ECOSTRESS library of laboratory and analytic spectra. Both input and reflectance spectra are down-sampled to 2-band reflectivities and incident flux, but done so self-consistently (i.e. reflectivity is convolved with input spectrum). We have also added a stratosphere mode that is only accessible if NLEV>10, in which additional model layers are placed on top of the normal atmospheric structure (the lower atmosphere treatment is unchanged). This version of the model has been validated against CAM3, CAM4, LMDG, AM2, and CAM4_Wolf for Earth-like planets as well as tidally-locked planets around both M and G stars.

Sitnikov Orbits

Includes effect of having two suns in the sky, whose position may vary chaotically.

Radiative Flexibility

Modifications necessary for a diversity of atmospheres, in particular with a wide range of pN2. A key modification is a change to how Rayleigh scattering is calculated, so that thick N2 atmospheres are quite reflective and opaque at altitudes above the surface. This version also contains modifications necessary for modelling tidally-locked planets.

Glaciers

Includes modifications necessary for carbon-silicate weathering and a dynamic coupled glacier model, with surface geopotential responding to snow/ice depth.