Observation of moist convection in Jupiter's atmosphere

P. J. Gierasch (), A. P. Ingersoll, D. Banfield, S. P. Ewald, P. Helfenstein, A. Simon-Miller, A. Vasavada, H. H. Breneman, D. A. Senske and Galileo Imaging Team
Additional contact information
P. J. Gierasch: Cornell University
A. P. Ingersoll: California Institute of Technology
D. Banfield: Cornell University
S. P. Ewald: California Institute of Technology
P. Helfenstein: Cornell University
A. Simon-Miller: Cornell University
A. Vasavada: University of California at Los Angeles
H. H. Breneman: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
D. A. Senske: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

Nature, 2000, vol. 403, issue 6770, 628-630

Abstract: Abstract The energy source driving Jupiter's active meteorology is not understood1. There are two main candidates: a poorly understood internal heat source and sunlight. Here we report observations of an active storm system possessing both lightning and condensation of water. The storm has a vertical extent of at least 50 km and a length of about 4,000 km. Previous observations2,3 of lightning on Jupiter have revealed both its frequency of occurrence and its spatial distribution, but they did not permit analysis of the detailed cloud structure and its dynamics. The present observations reveal the storm (on the day side of the planet) at the same location and within just a few hours of a lightning detection (on the night side). We estimate that the total vertical transport of heat by storms like the one observed here is of the same order as the planet's internal heat source. We therefore conclude that moist convection—similar to large clusters of thunderstorm cells on the Earth—is a dominant factor in converting heat flow into kinetic energy in the jovian atmosphere.

Date: 2000
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DOI: 10.1038/35001017

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