Browsing by Author "Orton, G. S."

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    Thermal structure and composition of Jupiter's Great Red Spot from high-resolution thermal imaging
    (ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE, 2010) Fletcher, Leigh N.; Orton, G. S.; Mousis, O.; Yanamandra Fisher, P.; Parrish, P. D.; Irwin, P. G. J.; Fisher, B. M.; Vanzi, L.; Fujiyoshi, T.; Fuse, T.; Simon Miller, A. A.; Edkins, E.; Hayward, T. L.; De Buizer, J.
    Thermal-IR imaging from space-borne and ground-based observatories was used to investigate the temperature. composition and aerosol structure of Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) and its temporal variability between 1995 and 2008. An elliptical warm core, extending over 8 degrees of longitude and 3 degrees of latitude, was observed within the cold anticyclonic vortex at 21 degrees S. The warm airmass is co-located with the deepest red coloration of the GRS interior. The maximum contrast between the core and the coldest regions of the GRS was 3.0-3.5 K in the north-south direction at 400 mbar atmospheric pressure, although the warmer temperatures are present throughout the 150-500 mbar range. The resulting thermal gradients cause counter-rotating flow in the GRS center to decay with altitude into the lower stratosphere. The elliptical warm airmass was too small to be observed in IRTF imaging prior to 2006, but was present throughout the 2006-2008 period in VLT, Subaru and Gemini imaging.