Statistics
Scientific paper
Dec 1997
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997hst..prop.7530h&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #7530
Statistics
Hst Proposal Id #7530 Solar System
Scientific paper
The detection of slowly-moving, wave-like features in infrared {IR} observations of Jupiter {by us and others} has generated excitement. If these features are Rossby waves, they may probe the atmosphere down to the boundary with the planetary interior. Rossby waves cause zonal flows to oscillate about their characteristic latitude. We will search for such undulations in all available HST images of Jupiter's atmosphere, applying the automated searching techniques already successful in our infrared work. The amplitude of meridional oscillations would be 2,000 km, or 0decarcsec6 as seen from Earth. Detecting oscillations consistent with the wavenumbers and phases seen in IR data will establish that these features are indeed Rossby waves. Wave speeds, dispersion relations, longevity, vertical extent, and population statistics will all constrain models of planetary atmospheres, which have direct application to terrestrial meteorology. If, as we suspect, the waves have a large vertical extent, they may reflect the boundary conditions between the troposphere and planetary interior. Planetary interior modeling predicts convection organized into ``banana- cells'', which extend from pole to pole but are constrained in longitude. The number of cells strongly constrains the convection and is of interest to interior modelers. Detecting similar waves in both visible and IR data that maintain speed and wavenumber over a large range of latitudes would constitute a major step forward in measuring the conditions in the planetary interior.
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