Studying the dynamics of Jupiter using a 3D general circulation model constrained by radio occultation measurements
Authors: Smirnova Maria , Galanti Eli , Kaspi Yohai 
Published: September 2022

&lt;div&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;gmail-m_8690891080095710194divtagdefaultwrapper&quot;&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;gmail-m_8690891080095710194divtagdefaultwrapper&quot; lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;The shallow layers of the Jovian atmosphere, the only regions accessible to direct investigation through in situ sampling and remote sensing experiments, are the looking glass through which the unknowns of the dynamical structure are revealed. Radio occultation measurements have proved to be a key factor in the study of planetary atmospheres&amp;#8217; thermal structure, dynamics and composition.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;During both the extended Juno mission and the upcoming JUICE mission to Jupiter, an unprecedented number of radio occultations are planned to be performed, reaching to a depth of up to 2 bar, with much broader spatial coverage than previously performed. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;gmail-m_8690891080095710194divtagdefaultwrapper&quot; lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;These experiments could be used to&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;better&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;understand the physical properties and dynamics of Jupiter&amp;#8217;s atmosphere&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;,&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;&amp;#160;not only at the upper cloud level region (~1 bar) but also much deeper (down to 1000s bars), by using these measurements as constraints to general circulation models (GCMs) that simulate the flow on the gaseous planet.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;gmail-m_8690891080095710194divtagdefaultwrapper&quot;&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;gmail-m_8690891080095710194divtagdefaultwrapper&quot; lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;Here,&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;we develop a&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;&amp;#160;3D general circulation model for the dynamical region of Jupiter&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;,&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;gmail-m_8690891080095710194divtagdefaultwrapper&quot; lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;driven by a Newtonian cooling scheme with temperature fields derived either from the observed winds (thermal wind balance) or by using in-situ temperature measurements from the Cassini mission&amp;#8217;s CIRS or TEXES instruments.&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;The model is&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;gmail-m_8690891080095710194divtagdefaultwrapper&quot; lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;used to reproduce the dynamics of Jupiter at the upper levels (mainly the zonal jets) while allowing the dynamics to evolve freely below the cloud level.&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;When the radio occultation experiments will be available for analysis, they could replace or be added to the above thermal profiles used to force the GCM.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;gmail-m_8690891080095710194divtagdefaultwrapper&quot; lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;&amp;#160;Combining radio occultations with dynamical modeling of the Jovian atmosphere,&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;will lead to&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;a twofold improvement of&amp;#160;the&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;understanding&amp;#160;&lt;span lang=&quot;en-US&quot;&gt;of the structure of the atmosphere at the cloud level and the deep atmospheric dynamics.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;