The Formation and Maintenance of the Zonal Winds of Jupiter and Saturn

Computer Science – Numerical Analysis

Scientific paper

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Jupiter Red Spot, Saturn (Planet), Weather, Wind (Meteorology), Simulation, Streams, Vortices, Numerical Analysis, Heating, Jupiter (Planet), Maintenance, Planets, Rotating Bodies, Stability, Sun

Scientific paper

The goal of this research was to understand the alternating zonal (east-west) winds or jet streams of the large gaseous planets whose atmospheres (at their weather layers) are dominated by them - even more so than by their long-lived vortices such as the Great Red Spot. A goal was to develop a complete theory that would explain how and why the jets would form and how they were maintained. We choose to pursue a mathematically rigorous explanation. We used both mathematical analysis and large-scale numerical simulation to develop and test theories. Most other investigators who have examined this problem have either assumed that the differential heating from the sun creates the jet streams or have approached the problem as a 'run-down' numerical experiment in which the planet's atmosphere is initially filled with a random vortex field and allowed to evolve with no forcing and only small-scale dissipation. We were motivated to try a new approach because we were able to show that the former approach fails to produce stable zonal winds of a type found on the gaseous planets, while the latter is unrealistic in its initial assumptions and eventually leads to solid-body rotation. Because planetary data is often ambiguous, we were motivated to cast our predictions and results in a way such that laboratory experiments could support or refute them.

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