Pro ISSI Talk 1: “Super-Earths, Mini-Neptunes and the Radius Valley in Extrasolar Planets” – Talk with Julia Venturini (ISSI, Bern, Switzerland)
Abstract: The NASA Kepler Satellite has discovered more than 2300 extrasolar planets. This has revealed that in the size distribution of extrasolar planets, there is a depletion of planets with a size of about 1.7 Earth radii. This “Radius Valley” separates rocky super-Earths from volatile-rich mini-Neptunes. It stands as one of the most important observational constraints to understand the origin and composition of exoplanets with radii between that of Earth and Neptune. This talk will first provide an introduction to the topic of exoplanets with a speciasl focus on super-Earths and mini-Neptunes. Then, it will describe several important physical mechanisms that can explain the radius valley, including a recent combined formation and evolution model that was developed in Bern.
Pro ISSI Talk 2: “Origin of the Regional and Interannual Variability in Sea Level” – Talk with Lorena Moreira (ISSI, Bern, Switzerland)
Abstract: Satellite observations of the Earth have shown that the global mean sea level is rising, even in an accelerating fashion. They have also revealed important regional differences in the rates of sea level rise. While the origin of the global mean sea level rise is now well known (anthropogenic global warming), the causes of the regional variability are less well understood. The first part of the talk will focus on the phenomena that are suspected to cause the observed regional trend patterns in sea level. Current knowledge is that the regional variability is mostly driven by the natural climate variability. Then, the interannual fluctuations will be discussed which is important to better estimate the acceleration of the global mean sea level rise, which is key for the understanding of the future evolution of the sea level.
Pro ISSI Talks were recorded on May 12, 2021.