Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Oct 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007dps....39.5508l&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #39, #55.08; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.527
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jupiter and Saturn exhibit multiple banded zonal jets whose formation mechanisms remain obscure. Most models assume that the jets result from an inverse energy cascade that acts on small-scale turbulence, and moist convection has been repeatedly suggested as a possible source of this turbulence. However, this hypothesis has not been adequately tested. Here, we present 3D numerical simulations using the MITgcm that include the advection of water vapor. Condensation, and the associated latent heating, occurs whenever the relative humidity exceeds 100%. This scheme allows the locations of heating to evolve with (and be determined by) the flow; unlike many previous studies, our forcing scheme does not impose any zonal symmetry on the system. A slow cooling, representing radiation to space, is evenly applied throughout the model's upper troposphere. In our simulations, the circulation leads to spatially variable latent heating, which generates horizontal temperature contrasts; this triggers baroclinic instabilities, which act as a source of small-scale turbulence. Our simulations show that multiple Jupiter-like zonal jets form, with latitudinal widths controlled by the Rhines scale. In some cases, a superrotating jet develops at the equator, which may help to explain this feature on Jupiter and Saturn. Despite the confinement of latent heating and radiation to pressures less than about 7 bars, the zonal jets develop barotropic components that extend far below the condensation region. Our simulations suggest that the jets on Jupiter and Saturn may indeed form by moist convection.
Lian Yuan
Showman Adam P.
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