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T. Kostiuk (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center), K. Fast, T.A. Livengood (University of Maryland/NASA GSFC), D. Buhl, F. Espenak, P. Romani (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center), A.L. Betz, R. Boreiko (University of Colorado, Boulder)
We will present new results in the study of temporal changes in ammonia (NH3) abundance, altitude distribution, and temperature in the stratosphere of Jupiter after the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact in 1994. Data obtained by Betz et al. (1994) using infrared heterodyne spectroscopy were analyzed using a newly developed beam integration radiative transfer code. The spectra are from six different impact regions and were acquired from hours to three weeks following the impact. The data consist of single NH3 stratospheric emission line profiles near 10 µm measured at a resolving power of ~107. The true line profiles and the new radiative transfer program permitted the simultaneous retrieval of information on both the NH3 abundance and thermal structure as well as to set constraints on the altitude distribution of stratospheric ammonia. Retrieved column densities varied from ~ 1018 to 1016 over the three week period. Over the same time period the altitude of the emitting region varied from levels above the few mbar pressure region to below the 50 mbar pressure regions. Stratospheric temperatures hours after impact were ~220 K and about 8 days after impact returned to the quiescent levels (~170-180 K). Results from this self-consistent set of measurements will be presented, compared to those from other measurements, and compared to theoretical retrievals from photochemical models for NH3 in the Jovian stratosphere.