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R. Morales - Juberías, T. E. Dowling, Cs. J. Palotai (CPL/U. Louisville)
We have multiple, detailed observations of individual spots drifting with different velocities at different latitudes within a given shear zone. We also have indications from modeling Jupiter's White Ovals that the drift rates of anticyclones and cyclones are influenced by the structure of the atmosphere below the cloud tops. Therefore, it should be possible to combine such observations with modeling to learn about the abyssal circulation. We are investigating the influence the vertical wind shear has on jovian vortices with two versions of the EPIC atmospheric model, the original pure-isentropic-coordinate model and the new hybrid-coordinate model that transitions smoothly to a pressure-based coordinate where the atmosphere becomes nearly neutrally stratified and the potential temperature ceases to be a useful coordinate. The hybrid model allows us to achieve significantly greater depth and vertical resolution, and so gain more sensitivity to the baroclinic effects of the vertical shear of the zonal wind. There are technical issues that arise with the hybrid, in particular it is more challenging to introduce a balanced vortex since there is no simple streamfunction like the Montgomery streamfunction used in the isentropic-coordinate case. Our scientific goal is to reproduce the observed interactions of cyclones with anticyclones. For example, previous to the final merger of White Ovals BE and FA, the cyclonic vortex between them, which appeared to act as a merger inhibitor---a common occurrance when two White Ovals drifted close to each other---was pulled out of the triple system by the nearby transit of the Great Red Spot, thereby leaving a free path for BE and FA to merge. We will present our latest results on anticyclone-cyclone interactions and the influence of the abyssal circulation.
This research is funded by NASA's Planetary Atmospheres and EPSCoR programs.
If you would like more information about this abstract, please follow the link to http://www.louisville.edu/research/cpl/. This link was provided by the author. When you follow it, you will leave the Web site for this meeting; to return, you should use the Back comand on your browser.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: rm.juberias@louisville.edu
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35 #4
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.