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Science 12 October 2007:
Vol. 318. no. 5848, pp. 223 - 225
DOI: 10.1126/science.1147618
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Reports

Jupiter Cloud Composition, Stratification, Convection, and Wave Motion: A View from New Horizons

D. C. Reuter,1* A. A. Simon-Miller,1 A. Lunsford,1 K. H. Baines,2 A. F. Cheng,3,4 D. E. Jennings,1 C. B. Olkin,5 J. R. Spencer,5 S. A. Stern,4 H. A. Weaver,3 L. A. Young5

Several observations of Jupiter's atmosphere made by instruments on the New Horizons spacecraft have implications for the stability and dynamics of Jupiter's weather layer. Mesoscale waves, first seen by Voyager, have been observed at a spatial resolution of 11 to 45 kilometers. These waves have a 300-kilometer wavelength and phase velocities greater than the local zonal flow by 100 meters per second, much higher than predicted by models. Additionally, infrared spectral measurements over five successive Jupiter rotations at spatial resolutions of 200 to 140 kilometers have shown the development of transient ammonia ice clouds (lifetimes of 40 hours or less) in regions of strong atmospheric upwelling. Both of these phenomena serve as probes of atmospheric dynamics below the visible cloud tops.

1 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 693, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
2 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
3 Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA.
4 NASA Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546, USA.
5 Department of Space Studies, Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut Street, Suite 300, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dennis.c.reuter{at}nasa.gov

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Polar Lightning and Decadal-Scale Cloud Variability on Jupiter.
K. H. Baines, A. A. Simon-Miller, G. S. Orton, H. A. Weaver, A. Lunsford, T. W. Momary, J. Spencer, A. F. Cheng, D. C. Reuter, D. E. Jennings, et al. (2007)
Science 318, 226-229
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)