[Previous] | [Session 18] | [Next]

[18.05] Resonant Structures Formed in a Deep Stable Layer in Jupiter

A.J. Friedson (JPL/Caltech)

Data from the Galileo probe atmospheric structure experiment (Seiff et al. 1998) revealed a deep, statically stable layer residing inside a 5-micron hot spot in Jupiter. The stability increases with depth between the 15 and 22-bar pressure levels. The existence of this layer has been corroborated by an analysis of probe Doppler residuals (Allison and Atkinson 2001). At the 20-bar level, the lapse rate is subadiabatic by about 0.4 K/km. A recent model of the dynamics of the hot spots (Friedson 2004) suggests that the mean lapse rate outside the hot spots has a similar vertical profile and is subadiabatic by about 0.25 K/km near the 20-bar level. I will present an examination of the implications this stable layer has for resonant trapping of atmospheric disturbances, with the aim of comparing the calculated horizontal structure of resonant features to observed structures in the troposphere, such as the slowly moving thermal features (Magalhaes et al. 1990). The procedure may have potential to provide new information about the vertical structure of Jupiter's jets below cloud level.

Seiff, A. et al. (1998), JGR 103, 22857./ Allison, M. and D. Atkinson (2001), GRL 28, 2747./ Magalhaes, J.A. et al. (1990), Icarus 88, 39.

[Previous] | [Session 18] | [Next]

Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #4
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.