Cycles of Activity in the Jovian Atmosphere

Abstract

Jupiter's banded appearance may appear unchanging to the casual observer, but closer inspection reveals a dynamic, ever-changing system of belts and zones with distinct cycles of activity. Identification of these long-term cycles requires access to datasets spanning multiple jovian years, but explaining them requires multi-spectral characterization of the thermal, chemical, and aerosol changes associated with visible color variations. The Earth-based support campaign for Juno's exploration of Jupiter has already characterized two upheaval events in the equatorial and temperate belts that are part of long-term jovian cycles, whose underlying sources could be revealed by Juno's exploration of Jupiter's deep atmosphere.

9 pages, 1 figures, Commentary published in Geophysical Research Letters

References in corpus (4)

• Moist Convection and the 2010-2011 Revival of Jupiter's South Equatorial Belt
• Jovian Temperature and Cloud Variability during the 2009-2010 Fade of the South Equatorial Belt
• Jupiter's North Equatorial Belt expansion and thermal wave activity ahead of Juno's arrival
• Jupiter's North Equatorial Belt and Jet, I, Cyclic expansions and planetary waves

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• Jupiter's cloud-level variability triggered by torsional oscillations in the interior
• A new convective parameterization applied to Jupiter: implications for water abundance near the $24^{\circ }$ N region
• Anelastic torsional oscillations in Jupiter's metallic hydrogen region
• The aftermath of convective events near Jupiter's fastest prograde jet: implications for clouds, dynamics and vertical wind shear