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Understanding JWST water spectra: what can thermochemical models tell us about the (cold) water in protoplanetary disks?
Marissa Vlasblom, Milou Temmink, Andrew D. Sellek, Ewine F. van Dishoeck
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.06494

Understanding JWST water spectra: what can thermochemical models tell us about the (cold) water in protoplanetary disks?
(Abridged) Rotational H$_2$O spectra as observed with JWST/MIRI provide a good probe of the temperature and column density structure of the inner disk. H$_2$O emission can also be influenced by dynamical processes, such as dust grains drifting inwards and their icy mantles sublimating once they cross the snowlines, thus enriching the inner regions in H$_2$O vapor. Recent work has found that this process may leave an imprint in the H$_2$O spectrum in the form of excess flux in the cold H$_2$O li…