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Wave Activity in Jupiter's North Equatorial Belt From Near‐Infrared Reflectivity Observations
Author(s) -
Giles Rohini S.,
Orton Glenn S.,
Stephens Andrew W.,
Wong Michael H.,
Irwin Patrick G. J.,
Sinclair James A.,
TabatabaVakili Fachreddin
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2018gl081858
Subject(s) - rossby wave , longitude , jupiter (rocket family) , geology , latitude , troposphere , crest , haze , infrared , equator , atmospheric sciences , wavenumber , geophysics , physics , astronomy , geodesy , meteorology , optics , space shuttle
High spatial resolution images of Jupiter at 1.58–2.28 μm are used to track and characterize a wave pattern observed in 2017 at a planetocentric latitude of 14°N. The wave pattern has a wave number of 18 and spans ∼5° in latitude. One bright crest remains stationary in System III longitude, while the remaining crests move slowly westward. The bright and dark regions of the near‐infrared wave pattern are caused by variations in the vertical location of the upper tropospheric haze layer. A comparison with thermal infrared observations shows a correlation with temperature anomalies in the upper troposphere. The results are consistent with a Rossby wave, generated by flow around a stationary vortex.