Prospecting Jupiter in the Thermal Infrared with Cassini CIRS: Atmospheric Temperatures and Dynamics

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During the 140-RJ Cassini swingby of Jupiter in December 2000, the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) acquired global maps of Jupiter with a spatial resolution up to 2.5o of latitude at the sub-spacecraft point at middle-infrared wavelengths (600-1400 cm-1). Temperatures retrieved from this spectral range are in the upper troposphere and tropopause region (50-400 mbar), and in the middle and upper stratosphere (0.8-10 mbar). Zonally averaged temperatures imply a mean zonal wind that does not have a simple structure: the winds decay with altitude near the tropopause, but higher up they can either decay to a state of no relative motion or build up again, implying a complex spatial distribution of momentum forcing. Zonal mean temperatures at low latitudes exhibit an interesting behavior. Near 100 mbar and 1 mbar, equatorial temperatures are several kelvin cooler than those 10-15o N or S. However, at 5-20 mbar the equatorial temperatures are 5 K warmer. At the tropopause, the equatorial temperature minimum is much more pronounced than observed at the time of Voyager. While a number of mechanisms could account for this spatial behavior, it is likely related to the temporal variation in the equatorial stratospheric temperatures that have been reported from ground-based observations. The global maps obtained show the two auroral hot spots at high northern and southern latitudes. Curiously, these spots appear cooler than their surroundings at the 4-mbar level, perhaps attributable to adiabatic cooling associated with local upwelling. The maps also show a wealth of distinct zonal structure at other latitudes. Much of this appears quasi-stationary, but several westward-propagating features are seen in the stratosphere.

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