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A. A. Simon-Miller, D. Banfield, P. J. Gierasch (Cornell University)
Radiative transfer analysis was performed with data taken by the Galileo spacecraft Solid State Imager (SSI) during its nominal mission (December 1995 - December 1997). Preliminary work (Banfield et al. 1998 Icarus 135, 230-250.) with near-IR continuum and methane band filters yielded detail about the vertical structure of Jupiter's belts and zones. New analyses, which included the effects of Rayleigh scattering at short wavelengths, variable particle sizes and variable 410-nm single scattering albedos, yield consistent vertical structure results, but also provide information about the location of blue absorption within the cloud decks. The primary color difference between the reddish North Equatorial Belt (NEB) and the whiter Equatorial Zone (EZ) appears to be in the tropospheric haze layer's 410-nm single scattering albedo. The base of the haze layer is slightly deeper in the NEB (by about 200 mbar) than in the EZ, and a white cloud layer at the base of the haze exists in both regions but is optically thicker in the EZ. Within the EZ, slight color variation is seen with latitude, again due to 410-nm single scattering albedo variation.
This work was supported by a grant from the NASA Jupiter System Data Analysis Program.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: simon@rain.tn.cornell.edu