Jupiter’s Temperate Belt/Zone Contrasts Revealed at Depth by Juno
Microwave Observations
Abstract
Juno Microwave Radiometer (MWR) observations of Jupiter’s mid-latitudes
reveal a strong correlation between brightness temperature contrasts and
zonal winds, confirming that the banded structure extends throughout the
troposphere. However, the microwave brightness gradient is observed to
change sign with depth: the belts are microwave-bright in the
p<5 bar range and microwave-dark in the p>10 bar
range. The transition level (which we call the jovicline) is evident in
the MWR 11.5 cm channel, which samples the 5-14 bar range when using the
limb-darkening at all emission angles. The transition is located between
4 and 10 bars, and implies that belts change with depth from being
NH3-depleted to NH3-enriched, or from physically-warm to
physically-cool, or more likely a combination of both. The change in
character occurs near the statically stable layer associated with water
condensation. The implications of the transition are discussed in terms
of ammonia redistribution via meridional circulation cells with opposing
flows above and below the water condensation layer, and in terms of the
‘mushball’ precipitation model, which predicts steeper vertical ammonia
gradients in the belts versus the zones. We show via the moist thermal
wind equation that both the temperature and ammonia interpretations can
lead to vertical shear on the zonal winds, but the shear is
~50x weaker if only NH3 gradients are considered.
Conversely, if MWR observations are associated with kinetic temperature
gradients then it would produce zonal winds that increase in strength
down to the jovicline, consistent with Galileo probe measurements; then
decay slowly at higher pressures.