Numerical Simulations Of Jupiter's 5-micron Hot Spots

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Jupiter's 5-micron hot spots are equatorial regions that emit strongly in the 5-micron infrared window, indicating that the radiation emanates from regions as deep as 8 bars, well below the vertical location of the main ammonia cloud deck (0.6 bar). Thus, these areas lack the cloud cover that would otherwise prevent the deep thermal radiation from emanating to space. Because the Galileo Probe measured conditions in a 5-micron hot spot, fully understanding data from the probe requires a complete dynamical understanding of the hot spots. Showman and Dowling (2000) presented numerical simulations demonstrating that hot spots were areas of descending air, helping to explain the dryness measured by the Galileo probe, and were successful in reproducing other observed characteristics of the hot spots such as their periodic spacing, westward propagation, and vertical wind shear. Showman and Dowling (2000) and Friedson (2005) concluded that hot spots are a manifestation of an equatorially trapped Rossby wave.
We re-examine this atmospheric phenomenon using the newest version of the Explicit Planetary Isentropic Coordinate (EPIC) general circulation model in an effort to address several shortcomings of Showman and Dowling's original study. The technical advances made in the GCM allow us to test the sensitivity of hotspots to static stability, vertical wind shear, and varying equatorial wave modes with greater vertical resolution than previously possible. We discuss what ambient atmospheric conditions are required for the hot spots to persist. Furthermore, we examine how the abyssal atmosphere affects the morphology, strength, and evolution of the hot spots. Finally, we address the possibility that variations in the static stability profile of the Jovian atmosphere are responsible for the fact that hot spots exhibit minimal signature in the stratosphere.
This research is supported by NASA's Planetary Atmospheres program.

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