The thermal structure of planetary atmospheres is an essential input for predicting and retrieving the distribution of gases and aerosols, as well as the bulk chemical abundances. In the case of Jupiter, the temperature at a reference level—generally taken at 1 bar—serves as the anchor in models used to derive the planet’s interior structure and composition. Most models assume the temperature measured by the Galileo probe. However, those data correspond to a single location, an unusually clear, dry region, affected by local atmospheric dynamics. On the other hand, the Voyager radio occultation observations cover a wider range of latitudes, longitudes, and times. The Voyager retrievals were based on atmospheric composition and radio refractivity data that require updating and were never properly tabulated; the few existing tabulations are incomplete and ambiguous. Here we present a systematic electronic digitization of all available temperature profiles from Voyager, followed by their reanalysis, employing currently accepted values of the abundances and radio refractivities of atmospheric species. We find the corrected temperature at the 1 bar level to be up to 4 K greater than the previously published values, i.e., 170.3 ± 3.8 K at 12°S (Voyager 1 ingress) and 167.3 ± 3.8 K at 0°N (Voyager 1 egress). This is to be compared with the Galileo probe value of 166.1 ± 0.8 K at the edge of an unusual feature at 6.°57N. Altogether, this suggests that Jupiter’s tropospheric temperatures may vary spatially by up to 7 K between 7°N and 12°S.
Key Points:• Gemini TEXES spectral mapping reveals temperature, aerosol, and ammonia contrasts associated with plumes and hot spots on Jupiter's NEB jetstream. • Juno microwave measurements are consistent with the infrared mapping, and reveals that hot spot ammonia contrasts are confined to pressures less than 8-10 bars. • Hot spots and plumes are primarily contrasts in aerosols, with only subtle uppertropospheric ammonia and temperature variations. AbstractWe present multi-wavelength measurements of the thermal, chemical, and cloud contrasts associated with the visibly dark formations (also known as 5-µm hot spots) and intervening bright plumes on the boundary between Jupiter's Equatorial Zone (EZ) and North Equatorial Belt (NEB). Observations made by the TEXES 5-20 µm spectrometer at the Gemini North Telescope in March 2017 reveal the upper-tropospheric properties of 12 hot spots, which are directly compared to measurements by Juno using the Microwave Radiometer (MWR), JIRAM at 5 µm, and JunoCam visible images. MWR and thermal-infrared spectroscopic results are consistent near 0.7 bar. Midinfrared-derived aerosol opacity is consistent with that inferred from visible-albedo and 5-µm opacity maps. Aerosol contrasts, the defining characteristics of the cloudy plumes and aerosol-depleted hot spots, are not a good proxy for microwave brightness. The hot spots are neither uniformly warmer nor ammonia-depleted compared to their surroundings at p < 1 bar. At 0.7 bar, the microwave brightness at the edges of hot spots is comparable to other features within the NEB. Conversely, hot spots are brighter at 1.5 bar, signifying either warm temperatures and/or depleted NH 3 at depth. Temperatures and ammonia are spatially variable within the hot spots, so the precise location of the observations matters to their interpretation. Reflective plumes sometimes have enhanced NH 3 , cold temperatures, and elevated aerosol opacity, but each plume appears different. Neither plumes nor hot spots had microwave signatures in channels sensing p > 10 bars, suggesting that the hot-spot/plume wave is a relatively shallow feature. Plain Language SummaryTo date, our only direct measurement of Jupiter's gaseous composition came from the descent of the Galileo probe in 1995. However, the results from Galileo appeared to be biased due to the unusual meteorological conditions of its entry location: a dark, cloud-free region just north of the equator, known as a hot spot. One of the aims of NASA's Juno mission was to place the findings of the Galileo probe into broader context, which requires a detailed characterisation of these equatorial hot spots and their neighbouring plumes. We combine (a) data from Juno (microwave observations sounding conditions below the clouds, and visible/infrared observations revealing variations in cloud opacity) with (b) observations from amateur observers (to track the hot spots over time) and (c) observations from the TEXES infrared spectrometer mounted on the Gemini-North telescope. The latter provides the highest-re...
The Juno spacecraft successfully entered Jupiter orbit on 5 July 2016. One of Juno's primary objectives is to explore Jupiter's polar magnetosphere for the first time. An obvious major aspect of this exploration includes remote and in-situ observations of Jupiter's auroras and the processes responsible for them. To this end, Juno carries a suite of particle, field, and remote sensing instruments. One of these instruments is a radio and plasma wave instrument called Waves, designed to detect one electric field component of waves in the frequency range of 50 Hz to 41 MHz and one magnetic field component of waves in the range of 50 Hz to 20 kHz. Juno's first perijove pass with science observations occurred on 27 August 2016. This paper presents some of the first observations of the Juno Waves instrument made during that first perijove. Among radio emissions, kilometric, hectometric, and decametric emissions were observed. From a vantage point at high latitudes, many of Jupiter's auroral radio emissions appear as V-shaped emissions in frequency-time space with vertices near the electron cyclotron frequency where the emissions intensify. In fact, we present observations suggesting Juno flew through or close to as many as five or six sources of auroral radio emissions during its first perijove. Waves made in-situ observations of plasma waves on auroral field lines such as whistler-mode hiss, a common feature of terrestrial auroral regions. We also discuss observations of dust at the equator and lightning whistlers observed over mid-latitudes.
<p>Jupiter&#8217;s atmosphere is governed by multiple jet streams, which are strongly tied to its three-dimensional atmospheric circulation. Lacking a solid surface, several theories exist for how the meridional circulation extends into the interior. Here we show, collecting evidence from multiple instruments of the Juno mission, the existence of mid-latitudinal, turbulent driven, meridional circulation cells, similar to the Ferrel cells on Earth. Different than Earth, which contains only one such cell in each hemisphere, Jupiter can incorporate multiple cells due to its large size and fast spin. The cells form regions of upwelling and downwelling, which we show are clearly evident in Juno&#8217;s MWR data between latitudes 60S and 60N. The existence of these cells is confirmed by reproducing the ammonia observations using an advection-relaxation model. This study solves a long-standing puzzle regarding the nature of Jupiter&#8217;s sub-cloud dynamics and provides evidence for 8 cells in each Jovian hemisphere.</p>
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