Saturn's Rotation Period Derived from its Atmospheric Rossby-Wave Configuration with Implications for its Internal Structure

Details Saturn's Rotation Period Derived from its Atmospheric Rossby-Wave Configuration with Implications for its Internal Structure Saturn's Rotation Period Derived from its Atmospheric Rossby-Wave Configuration with Implications for its Internal Structure

Sep 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009dps....41.2406d&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #41, #24.06

Physics

Geophysics

Scientific paper

We report a determination of the rotation periods of Jupiter and Saturn based on an analysis of observed potential vorticity, inferred Rossby-wave dynamics, and considerations of marginal stability of the tropospheric zonal winds with respect to Arnol'd's second stability criterion (Read, Dowling and Schubert, 2009, Nature 460). Applied to Jupiter, this analysis produces a reference frame that differs from Jupiter's traditional System III frame by just 18±1 s. Applied to Saturn, we obtain a period of 10 h 34 min 13±20 s, which we call System IIIw (`w’ for `wave'). This rotation period is shifted more than 5 minutes faster than the traditional Voyager SKR-derived System III frame, corresponds to a drop in equatorial wind speed of more than 80 ms-1, and yields a pattern of alternating jets on Saturn that is qualitatively similar to that found on Jupiter. Given the System IIIw rotation period, the interior model of Helled, Schubert and Anderson (2009, Icarus 199, 368-377) predicts for Saturn a 100 hPa equatorial radius of 60327.8 km (assuming a polar radius of 54438 km), mean density 686.895 kgm-3, and gravitational coefficients J2, J4, and J6 of 16291.9e-6, -936.0e-6, and 86.2e-6, respectively. This research was supported by the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (PLR), and NASA's Planetary Atmospheres (TED, GS), Outer Planets Research (TED) and Planetary Geology and Geophysics (GS, RH) Programs.

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